If you are an animal in distress, or Willie Nelson, or a friend of Fran Holmbraker, you lost a profoundly loyal and steadfast champion when she died on Apr. 6, 2021, while tending to her beloved gardens. Born Lillie Frances Ritchie on Feb. 13, 1933, to Phillip and Pauline, she was known as Frances or Fran to her family, friends and the animals she loved. (Regrettably, acquaintanceship with Willie was still an unfulfilled goal when she passed.) Fran graduated from Leesburg High School before earning a B.S. in Nursing from the University of Virginia in 1953. (Always growing and learning, she proudly capped nearly two decades of part-time study in 1993 with her second degree, a B.A. in English from Hood College.)