Frances Marie Palkowetz Schwartz

Frances Marie Palkowetz Schwartz was born on April 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey to Louis and Anna Palkowetz. Frances was the younger sister of Elmer Palkowetz. She attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Maplewood, NJ and graduated from Columbia High School. Following high school, she enrolled in Nursing School at East Orange Memorial Hospital.

After graduating from Nursing School, she met John Schwartz at a wedding she was attending at the Hungarian-American Club. Her date, a photographer, ended up taking their first picture together. John and Frances eloped 14 months later on May 7, 1952, in Elkton, Maryland and the two were married for almost 60 years until John’s passing on August 20th, 2011.

John and Frances had their first child, John Jr. in 1958. In 1959, they moved to a small dairy farm in Bloomville, New York. Frances was a city girl and the move to the farm, something John had long dreamed about, was a big adjustment. Her life was a combination of the sitcoms, "Green Acres," and, "My Three Sons." In fact, her youngest son, Robert, was named by her two eldest sons after one of the "My Three Sons" characters.

The couple’s second son, Daniel, was born in 1961. Their third son, Robert, was born in 1964. They lived on the farm for fourteen years until 1973 when they moved to Anchorage, Alaska. In Anchorage, Frances worked as a Registered Nurse for the Alaska Native Hospital. She retired from nursing in 1988 after more than 35 years in the field, during which time she served as a nurse in New Jersey, New York, and Alaska. Frances enjoyed the operating room the most and spent the majority of her career assisting in surgery.

After retirement, Frances and John moved to Homer, Alaska and lived there for fourteen years until 1992, when they moved to the Mat-Su Valley to be closer to family. After a short time in Palmer, they moved to Wasilla, off Church and Glacier, where they lived out their final years together.

Frances was a 41-year resident of Alaska and spent the last four years of her life in Washington State with her son Daniel and daughter-in-law Ruth, and at the Memory Care Unit of Easthaven Villa Assisted Living Home.

Frances died peacefully on August 17, 2018, surrounded by family and friends in Yelm, Washington at the age of 92.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, August 30th at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wasilla, Alaska followed by interment at Ft. Richardson Cemetery.

Frances is survived by her three sons, John Schwartz Jr. of Lewiston Idaho, Daniel Schwartz of Orting, Washington and Robert Schwartz of Chugiak, Alaska. Eight grandchildren Jennifer, Bethany, Gavin, Logan, Kristen, Tyler, Cullen and Corissa, and five great-grandchildren Jaxon, Landon, Dani Grace, Vergil and Dante, and one adorable foster great-grandchild.

Frances was predeceased by her brother Elmer Palkowetz in April of 2016 at the age of 94 and by her granddaughter Devon Angel.