BOSTON – Frances Brennan Hamilton, 71, of Auburn, passed away on Jan. 4, 2019, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital surrounded by her family. 

Fran was born in Lewiston, on April 5, 1947, to Jeannette Savard Brennan and Francis Joseph Brennan. She graduated from Lewiston High School and the University of Maine, and went on to teach first grade at St. Mary’s School, in Lewiston.

On Aug. 4, 1973, she married William Erskine Hamilton of West Hartford, Conn. They lived for a year in Philadelphia before moving to Lewiston-Auburn, where they would raise their three children and enjoy more than 45 years of marriage.

Since 2006, she split her time between Auburn and Boston, where she delighted in caring for her granddaughters, Ella Sawyer and Katherine Anna Hamilton. She is survived also by their parents: her son David Warner Hamilton and daughter-in-law Deirdre Hamilton, her daughter, Cheryl Carden Hamilton and fiance Chris Shirazi, and her son Brian Frederick Hamilton, daughter-in-law Leah Webb-Halpern; and grandsons, William Brennan and Auden Ellis Webb-Halpern. She also leaves behind her sister, Mary Brennan, and her brothers, John Brennan and James Brennan, her sisters-in-law, Lorraine Brennan, Mary Plante Brennan, and Miranda Hamilton; as well as eight nieces and nephews.

When in Maine, Fran enjoyed regular lunch dates with her sister and her dear friends Gail Burgess, Rachel Feeley, and Pat Sawyer.

She also enjoyed keeping her own company. At least once a week, she took herself to the movies. One might bump into her hunting for just the right greeting card or spy her sneaking a gift onto a friend’s porch. She appreciated the freedom of the open road, whether on long road trips or a solitary drive around Lake Auburn ending at the Dairy Joy.

But what distinguished Fran above all else was her spirit. She was endlessly generous, unfailingly optimistic, and overwhelmingly kind. To know her was to be loved by her, and she loved without conditions. She praised others, whether kin or cashier, freely and frequently. She was without guile, without ego. She was, every day, what the best among us strive a lifetime to be: good for its own sake.

Her family will host visiting hours at her home on Saturday, Jan. 12, from 12-6 p.m.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 13, at the Gendron Franco Center, 46 Cedar St., in Lewiston.

In lieu of flowers,

donations in Fran’s memory may be made to the

Auburn Public Library,

Attn: Dir. of Development,

49 Spring St.,

Auburn, ME 04210,

or online at: www.auburnpubliclibrary.org/library-fund/