Frances Dickey Blot, age 81, passed away peacefully at her Ponte Vedra Beach home September 7, 2024.
Fran was born on July 6, 1943 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas where her father was stationed as an Army officer and mother as an Army nurse. She grew up in St. Simons Island, Georgia, graduating from Glynn Academy High School. Attending the University of Florida, she met and upon graduation married her husband Bill. After graduation, she taught high school mathematics in Keystone Heights and then in Tallahassee, Florida where her husband was receiving his doctoral degree at Florida State University. Her daughter, Jeanne was born in Tallahassee. Three years later, her son Bill, Jr was born in Hiroshima, Japan, where she lived for two years learning and enjoying the culture and teaching English at a local girl’s college. Returning to the US, she lived for nearly 50 years in Maryland, first near Baltimore, then in Gaithersburg and finally Chevy Chase. She was family oriented, and over the past two decades loved being able to live near her son, daughter-in-law and three grandsons, and later her daughter. She was a member of the Catholic Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda.
After early child rearing, Fran worked as a human resources manager for the Wyatt Company in Washington, DC, retiring in 1994 when she joined the Board of Directors of her husband’s biomedical research firm. Throughout much of this time, she served as a hospice volunteer in Montgomery County, Maryland, exemplifying her care and compassion for helping others.
Her spirit of caring was further demonstrated in her philanthropy with Vanderbilt University, where Bill was an associate director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. She thoroughly enjoyed her part-time home of nearly 20 years in Nashville, especially the music scene, the friendly neighbors and university colleagues. She appreciated being able to support the research cause, and when Bill retired in 2021 they donated their condominium residence to the medical center.
Fran loved travel, including overseas trips to China, Italy and throughout Europe. She particularly liked the multiple summer vacations in the southwest coast of Ireland with family (including distant Irish cousins) and friends. She was an avid book reader. Stimulated early by the floral arts knowledge gained in Japan, she joined the Washington Chrysanthemum Society and became a long-term expert in producing unique and beautiful flowers. She was also a great cook, especially of Japanese dishes including sukiyaki and shabu shabu, although in her retirement years she loved to eat out at her favorite restaurants.
Since the 1990s, she and Bill had been spending portions of the winter in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. In 2022 they made Florida their primary residence. Fran was enamored with her lovely Sawgrass Lakeside neighborhood and its wonderful neighbors. On a daily basis, she would walk the local paths, or the nearby beach where she was always on the lookout for the perfect intricate shell to add to her collection. The live oak lined streets reminded her of her childhood in St. Simons Island, and the area provided a peaceful respite for her final days at home surrounded by family.
Fran is survived by her husband of 59 years, Bill; her daughter, Jeanne of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and Bethesda, Maryland; son, Bill; daughter-in-law, Katie; grandsons: Will, Robert and Timothy Blot of Bethesda, Maryland; and, brothers: Tommy Dickey of South Lake Tahoe, California and Eddie Dickey of Corte Madera, California. She is predeceased by her father, Thomas Dickey and mother, Ruth Dickey of St. Simons Island, Georgia.
There will be a memorial service at the Ponte Vedra Valley Funeral Home -- 4750 Palm Valley Rd, Ponte Vedra Beach FL 32082 -- at 11:00 am on Saturday September 21, 2024, followed by a lunch reception at the Sawgrass Country Club.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, Fran would have appreciated sending a donation to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee (www.vicc.org).
