Mary Frances Tomasic, beloved wife and mother of six, died peacefully on May 4 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She was 83. Fran, as she was known to her friends and family, battled dementia in the last years of her life and succumbed to complications in hospice care surrounded by family members. Fran built her life around her Catholic faith and her family. She was born Mary Frances Schroeder in Evanston on June 26, 1932, at St. Francis Hospital to Bertrand and Catherine. She had one sibling, her older brother George. In 1951, Fran graduated from Immaculata High School in Uptown and enrolled at DePaul University, earning a secretarial certificate in 1952. She then entered Holy Ghost Convent in Techny, Ill., home to the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters. "Sister Catherine," as she was called throughout her nine-year novitiate, taught as part of her training at an elementary school in Jackson, Miss. She counted her Holy Spirit sisters as lifelong friends and met with them on weekend retreats. Set to take her final vows in 1961, Sister Catherine was instructed instead to put her "partial vocation" to work in the outside world. It was a story, she later joked, that recalled Hollywood's "Sound of Music" and the boom-time era of Church vocations in the United States. Fran left the convent in the spring and fast set to work on the next chapter of her life. She called an old flame from her days at DePaul, a former seminarian, and just six months later, on December 26, Fran and Thomas were married. The couple's first child was born the following October. Fran finished a Bachelor's degree in education from DePaul in the spring, and then, over the next seven years, five more children came in rapid succession. The Tomasic family in 1967 moved to Edison Park, where the children attended Immaculate Conception elementary school. Fran reveled in the lives of her children — in their independence and bonhomie, or what she referred to with affection as their "big personalities." She had a keen eye for character and delivered criticism with a velvet touch and a wink. "I have six kids who grew up all together in two tiny rooms," she used to say. "Each of them conducted themselves as if they were an only child." Fran lived as sparing as a nun throughout her life and sometimes betrayed a skeptical view of material or "worldly" success. She worked as a teacher at St. John Brebeuf School and as a secretary for the Archdiocese of Chicago and Winnetka Congregational Church.Fran was a member of St. Pius X Catholic parish in Fort Lauderdale and, after recovering from a stroke in 2003, became a rehabilitation volunteer at Holy Cross Hospital in the city. Fran is survived by her husband, Thomas, their six children — Paul (Jennifer Hausheer), Donna Leding, John (Adrienne Russell), Nancy (Christopher) Marino, Therese Marie (Patrick) Ormond, Steven (Kate) — 12 grandchildren, and one great granddaughter. Lying-In-State Saturday, May 14, 11 a.m. followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 12 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 7211 W. Talcott Ave., Chicago. Interment at Maryhill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Catholic Charities USA or to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. For info 773-774-3232.