SANFORD – Frances L. Knight, 86, formerly of Dartmouth Street, Auburn, died Friday afternoon, Jan. 25, at the Newton Center Nursing Home in Sanford following a long illness.

She was born in Litchfield on Dec. 25, 1921, the daughter of Vinton Woodbury and Lavica Audine (Coolidge) Danforth.

In her early years, she had been employed at the Corn Shop in Auburn and the Bates Mill, until becoming a full time homemaker most of her life.

Frances was a fantastic seamstress who sewed clothing for her family, and also loved to cook. During the holidays, there was not a neighbor in Auburn that didn’t enjoy Frances’s holiday pies and cakes. Something she enjoyed doing every holiday until five years ago.

Survivors include two daughters, Shirley Goudreau of Syracuse, N.Y., and Florence Lajoie of West Newfield; six grandchildren, Scott, David, Paul, Janice, Carol and Elizabeth; six great- grandchildren, Ryan, Tyler, Olivia, Cloe, Jacob and Carter; several nieces and nephews, Mavis, Sunny, Ralph, Marcel, Larry, David, Peter, Syd, Mark and Georgette; as well as several great-nieces and -nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband, Kenneth Knight, on July 3, 1985; as well as three sisters, Eva Danforth, Florence Williams and Charlotte Descheneaux.