Frances Elizabeth Roberts

Frances Elizabeth Roberts passed away on Nov. 10, 2015.

Frances was the daughter of Catherine Brown Degenhart and John Sylvester Degenhart, and was born on Jan. 9, 1930.

She followed her older brother John to school every day until the Sisters at Kate Fratt Elementary decided to let her stay. She was in the class of 1947, the first and only graduating class, of St. Patrick's High School , which would then become Billings Central High School.

On Jan. 6, 1951, Frances married Victor R. Roberts and, from this union, two children were born: Randy and Dione. As a young bride, she cooked for custom combiners on their wheat farm near Pryor.

Frances was the owner/artist at Montana Maid Ceramics since 1974, and continued to work at her little ceramic store until several months before her death. She had clay in her blood and loved her students and working with ceramics. She had several articles published in Ceramics Arts and Crafts and won the highest award in hobby ceramics, the Pro Peggy.

She loved holidays with her family and cooking new recipes. She inspired her son Randy to cook and inspired her daughter Dione in all her artistic pursuits.

She crocheted hundreds of booties for babies and decorated newborn stockings as a St. Vincent's Hospital volunteer.

She was a five-year survivor of breast cancer, and was proud to have taken the test to find she had the genetic mutation in BRCA 2 in order to help future generations.

She loved her grandson Justin and often said the best times of her life were watching him play hockey. She was so happy to paint ceramics with her great-granddaughter Reese and see her great-grandson Jett start walking.

She is survived by her daughter Dione, and was blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law Rhonda, grandson Justin and his wife Tracy and their children Reese and Jett. She is also survived by several sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband Victor, son Randy and brother John.

Vigil services will be at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary, 1001 Alderson Ave. Funeral mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at St. Pius X Church, 717 18th St. W.

In memory of Frances, teach a child to cook, do an art or craft project with someone young, or memorials may be made to the art department at Billings Central Catholic High School or the charity of your choice.