Althea Frances Austin, 91, passed away quietly March 31, 2020 at the Hanceville Nursing & Rehab Center in Hanceville, AL.
Born in Kingston, Ontario in 1929, she was the youngest of five children of Harold Austin and Frances Marie Hughson. One of Althea’s favorite childhood memories was sneaking butter and brown sugar sandwiches with her brothers and sisters.
Althea moved to the U.S. at age 13 and worked as an au pair in Rochester, NY. After graduating from Rochester Hospital’s nurses training program, she served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. She married Anthony Franco of New Haven, CT in 1953 and started a family.
Althea’s nursing career spanned over 40 years and included many areas of specialization including epidemiology, intensive care, coronary care, and neonatal intensive care, and those skills took her around the globe. She traveled and lived in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Singapore while working as a traveling nurse. After those years of travel, she spent the last 20 years living in Hanceville.
She is survived by her daughters Adrienne Franco of Norwalk, CT, Lydia Franco of Seattle, WA, and Lisanne Franco of Hanceville, AL; grandchildren Marlin Gilmore Ehrhart and Galen Gilmore; and great-grandchildren Everly, Daisy and Evander.
