There were a lot of things Frannie Graves did well, but her ability to network and put people in touch with one another has to be near the top of the list.
Graves didn’t hesitate to place a call, or make an introduction, if she knew of someone who could help someone else, friends and family members said.
“She was always doing things for other people,” said Bill Graves, her husband of 48 years.
After the couple’s only daughter was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes when she was 10, Frannie Graves became active in the local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“She was an incredible leader, but at the same time a very behind-the-scenes person,” said family friend John Pruitt, who worked with Graves at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. “She did not crave glory, she was not someone who wanted the spotlight, but she was highly effective.”
Graves’ love of music showed up in her activities with the boards and committees of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. And her relationship with Agnes Scott College didn’t end when she graduated in 1963, it was just warming up. Elizabeth Kiss, president of the college, said Graves was “a legendary figure” and “role model” on campus.
“She was someone who served and strengthened her alma mater,” Kiss said, “and through so many years of health problems, she retained her courage and good spirit in a remarkable way.”
Frances Bailey Graves, called Frannie by all, of Atlanta died March 20 from complications of cancer and heart failure. She was 71.
A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Trinity Presbyterian Church. H.M. Patterson, Spring Hill Chapel, is in charge of the cremation.
Born in Danville, Ky., Graves came to Atlanta to attend Agnes Scott. After graduation, she went to Duke University, where she earned a master’s in history. She returned to Atlanta and taught at the former William F. Dykes High School, where she remained until she and her husband began their family. As she helped raise their two children, Graves’ involvement in JDRF and Agnes Scott got stronger and stronger, her husband said.
“She put a lot into JDRF because Martha had it,” Bill Graves said. “She was very hands-on, there and at Agnes Scott.”
Frannie Graves served in leadership positions at the foundation, as a board member from 1979 until 1985 and as board president for two years; and the college, on the board of trustees from 1992 until 2004. Both were near and dear to her heart, but for different reasons, her children said.
“She was interested in helping to find a cure for juvenile diabetes,” said her daughter, Martha Graves Marriott of Derbyshire, England.
“And she knew it was important to help sustain Agnes Scott,” added her son, Bill Graves Jr. of Atlanta.
While raising two children and supporting her husband’s business interests, Frannie Graves also volunteered a lot of her time at her church, Trinity Presbyterian, and to promoting the arts in metro Atlanta, as a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s board of directors.
“She was involved in a lot, but her priorities were very clear,” Marriott said of her mother. “She was an amazing mother.”
In addition to her husband, daughter and son, Graves is survived by her brother John Hill Bailey III of Nashville; and four grandchildren.
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