Frannie Kay '46 Brossy

The oldest of three children of Anna Francis Cooke '12 and Harold Kay, Frannie grew up at the "end of the road" on Alewa Heights. When World War II began, she missed her 9th- and 10th-grade years at Punahou when her family moved to Utah and California until the war ended. Finishing at Punahou, she was deeply involved in a variety of activities including girls athletics, rallies, Glee Club, Quill and Scroll, Damon Speech and the Oahuan. She also was the editor of Ka Punahou her senior year.

She attended Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., and met her husband, Fred, on a blind date. They settled in California and Frannie was a second-grade teacher "until the babies started coming." Frannie and Fred returned to Hawai'i in 1976 and eventually settled into the family home in Alewa.

Although living away meant her children - Fred III, Julie, Peter and Roger - did not attend Punahou, two grandchildren, Peter "Chee" '03 and Stacy '05 did, and Fred and Frannie got to experience being very "hands-on" Punahou grandparents.

When Frannie was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Fred assumed his most important role of helping her remain independent as her mobility declined, keeping her as active as possible and communicating under the extraordinarily challenging circumstances that can only be done by people who have spent nearly 60 years together. Frannie succumbed to her illness Dec. 15, 2008.

Frannie's largest service contribution was in the co-founding of Hawai'i's chapter of Habitat for Humanity, but she also dedicated much of her time and leadership to Central Union Church and Daughters of Hawai'i. The Rev. Nancy Lockwood said at Frannie's Central Union Church memorial service in December: "There was, in Frannie, a deep well of confidence and calm - Fred calls it 'psychic equilibrium' - so through all the changes in her life, from beginning to end, she accepted, then adapted, then embraced whatever came her way with a persistent sense that the cup was almost full, an occasion for growth, a fresh possibility."

Barb Young '67 Morgan, Punahou's senior director of legacy planning said: "Punahou is tremendously fortunate to be beneficiaries of the Brossy family's thoughtful planning and to be able to keep their legacies in support of generations to follow."