Frances R. Picone, 95, longtime resident of Oak Park, died at home on Feb. 11, 2021. Born in Chicago on April 19, 1925, she attended Austin High School and worked at the Chicago Tribune as a copy girl. She was even offered her own advice column, which she turned down to marry and move to Oak Park in the late 1950s to raise a family. There she raised six children, and was a caregiver to her mother who also lived with her family. She served as room mother, den mother and picture lady for many of the classes at Hawthorne Elementary School (now Julian Middle School). She lived in the family home for 62+ years where she passed peacefully in the early morning of Feb. 11.
She was very active in the Oak Park community, serving as a docent for the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio, where she memorized pages and pages of history and architectural information about the property and surrounding area.
For at least 25 years, she and, her husband Roy taught an early morning gym class at the Oak Park YMCA where they made lifelong friends and acquaintances. Their class was always full of area judges, lawyers, community movers and shakers and even Mr. T!
She was also active in Ascension Parish and taught religious education classes for several different grades over the years.
The Picone home had a very large dining table that was always full of family and others. There was always plenty of food and room for one or two more, even with six kids and their grandmother. A wonderful cook, her pizza, fry cakes and homemade ravioli will be missed although the children have attempted to carry on the tradition.
She always looked forward to weekends with the grandchildren, who were the light of her life these past years. Many meals were spent around the kitchen and dining room tables in lively conversation.
Frances Picone was the wife of the late Rosario (Roy); the mother of Liz, Christopher, Joseph, Regina (William) Etherton, Victoria and Rosario Jr.; the grandmother of Mary Frances, Ann Marie, Victoria, Rosario III and Julia.
The Picones were faithful supporters of the Monastery of the Holy Cross, a Roman Catholic, Benedictine Monastery continuing a centuries-old tradition of living according to the Rule of St. Benedict. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the monastery at chicagomonk.org.
