Frances Harris

A celebration of life for Frances Marion Harris will be held Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, from 4-7 p.m. at Hawks Nest Community Room in St. Albans, Vermont.

Frances, a longtime area resident, passed away on Aug. 27 at the Northwestern Medical Center with her family at her side.

Born in Hopkinton on Jan. 19, 1934, she was the daughter of the late Willard and Lurlene (Sumner) Buffington. Frances was 92 years old.

Frances’ working career consisted of being associated with Grand Union in the Vermont cities of South Burlington and St. Albans, a line worker for Eveready and then retired from INS.

She was a longtime member of Green Mountain Post 1, American Legion Auxiliary, Robert E. Glidden Post 758, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 1090 (former member and bartender) and Voiture 646 of the Forty and Eight.

Having a zest for life, in her spare time Frances enjoyed her flower gardens, taking rides looking for deer during the summer and her yearly deer hunting ventures.

Frances is survived by her four daughters, Peggy Rubie of South Carolina, Sue Johnson and husband Jack Shappy of St. Albans, Tammy Levick of St. Albans and Laurie Johnson of St. Albans; as well as her grandchildren, Nick and Christine Rubie and their children, Jack and Jesse; Julien Brenton, Kari Longley and son Andrew; Amand and Jeff Griffin and their children, Tiawna and Austin Barry and their daughter, Brae Lynn; Brady and Hailey Hatin; Mikayla and Josh Edelson; and Heather and Ben O’Neil and their children, Tyler King, Khloe Lumbra and Theodora O’Neil.

She also is survived by her sister Lurene Brewer of Kentucky and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, Frances was predeceased by her husband, Robert Harris, grandson Chad Charron and sisters Clara Bluto and Merlene “Patsy” Sloan.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Frances’ name may be made to the Franklin County Senior Center, 75 Messenger Street, St. Albans, Vermont 05478.

Assisting the Harris family is the Heald Funeral Home, where messages of condolences are welcome at healdfuneralhome.com.

Obituaries are submissions, typically from funeral homes, that are not subject to the same level of editorial oversight as the rest of the Hopkinton Independent. Obituaries may be edited for grammatical and factual mistakes and clarifications and shortened for space considerations.