Obituaries

Frankie Simons Boswell

Photo of Frankie Simons Boswell
Frankie Sue "Pop" Simons Boswell was born April 29, 1936, in Winnsboro, La., to Marion Louis Simons and Ola Hatten Simons. She went to be with the Lord July 18, 2020. Frankie Sue "Pop" grew up in Swampers, a small farming community in Franklin Parish. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a homemaker. Education was very important to her family and after graduating from Crowville High School, she attended nursing school along with her sister, Marion "Snookie", in Galveston, Texas. They decided they wanted to be closer to home and they completed their education at Warner Brown School of Nursing in Eldorado, Ark. Upon graduation she returned to Louisiana and began her career. Many friends would ask her when was she going to settle down and marry. She would answer, "Not until I meet a man as good as my father and my brother." She met the love of her life, Rue "Buddy" Boswell, and they married in 1958. Frankie and Rue settled in Louisiana. She practiced nursing and Buddy went to school for engineering. While he went overseas, she lived with her parents and their new son Chris. The Boswells moved back to Arkansas, where Buddy was from and they lived in Eldorado, Star City, McGehee, Pine Bluff, and Walnut Ridge, finally settling permanently in North Little Rock. Buddy's job took him all over the world and Frankie visited many countries, including Great Britain, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, India and Pakistan. She worked at John L McClellan Memorial Veteran's Hospital in North Little Rock, Arkansas and in 1983 received her Bachelors of Nursing becoming a nurse practitioner. In 1992 she became a featured story in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, when they told her story of the "miracle" device she had received after she suffered a sudden cardiac death. In 1987 while at home reading the newspaper to her father she slumped in her chair. Had it not been for her mother's quick thinking and the fact a cardiac nurse Rosemary Brown lived next door, she would have died. In 1988 she had an automatic defibrillator implanted into her abdomen by Dr. Steven Greer. This intervention and second chance, gave her 32 more years of life and memories. She was so thankful to the doctors and nurses who helped her through rehabilitation and monitoring over this many years. She was able to live a very full and rich life due to her defibrillator and it gave her much pleasure to tell her story and how blessed she was. Although when asked why she thought God had left her here, Buddy would chime in laughing, "to harass me!" She retired in 1988 from the VA, but continued working for the Arkansas Department of Health and would drive all over the state taking care of patients. She finally retired for good and resided in North Little Rock, with Buddy, until his death in 2016. These last two years had been very difficult emotionally for her as she lost her sister Snookie, then her son Chris, and last month her brother's son. She told us many times she was ready to be with them and to see the Lord. Last Saturday evening, after traveling to see her sister in law Judy in Lufkin, Texas, she called her niece Kelley and told her she was sorry, but she was "going". Her defibrillator fired three times, but this time the Lord was ready for her Frankie Sue was a firm believer in prayer and held her faith in the Lord. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rue L. Boswell; sons, Rue L. and Chris L. Boswell (Trina Taylor); parents, Marion L and Ola Simons; sisters, Margaret "Peggy" Herring and Marion "Snookie" Ozment; brother, Reverend James Simons; nieces, Hedy Pinkerton (Jim), Margaret Ann Herring; nephews, Wendell Simons, Tracy Schuster; brothers-in-law, Clyde Herring, Bobby Boswell, Donnie Boswell, Randy Boswell; and sisters-in-law June Lowery, Audie Simons. She is survived by nephew, David Herring (Marilyn); nieces, Becky Ozment and Kelley Kelly; sister-in-law, Judy Boswell May; nephews, Carlin Boswell, Keith Boswell, Jimmy Boswell (Carrie), Scot Boswell, Todd Foyil, Troy Schuster (Lori), Trent Schuster (Anna), Bo Boswell; nieces, Terri Boswell Miller, Renae Boswell, Debbie Lowery; and many adoring cousins, great-nieces, and nephews. Funeral services will be held at 12 p.m., on Saturday, July 25, 2020, at Hebron Baptist Church of Sikes with Bro. Joe Evans officiating. Interment will follow in Hebron Cemetery under the direction of Southern Funeral Home of Winnfield. The family will receive friends at the church on Saturday from 11 a.m., until time of services. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hebron Baptist Church, HC 73, Sikes, La., 71473-9801. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.southernfuneralhome.com

Published July 24, 2020

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