At 6:35 am July 21st, 2007, Beverly Frances ("Fran") Smith, who posted on scuba message boards for the past 4 years as SCFran, passed away at her home from a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. I spent much of the last week of her life with Fran at her home in Rock Hill, South Carolina and even in the worst of her illness, Frannie retained her fabulous sense of humor and wit. A passionate lover of the ocean and of diving, Fran told me that after she passed away, she knew that she would still be diving - that she'd be with every dolphin pod, swim with every whale shark and see everything and go everywhere she might have missed in her 499 dives during this life.
A memorial service will be held by her family in Alabama and her dearest friends will distribute a portion of her ashes in various dive sites - both sites where she'd been and loved and sites where she wanted to go. Together, we traveled to Cozumel, Florida (several times), Bimini and Thailand. In fact, every one of the most memorable dives I've had has been with Frannie by my side. I feel blessed to have been Fran's best friend, and to have had her as mine, during the past 4 years and will forever be grateful to the D2D board, where I first met her, for having had the opportunity to become her friend and dive buddy.
In addition, I have started a memorial website and memorial fund - the proceeds of which will go towards a memorial reef ball (through Eternal Reefs) to be placed in South Florida (site unknown as of yet) as part of starting a new reef. The website is: http://www.underseadreams.com
A memorial service will be held by her family in Alabama and her dearest friends will distribute a portion of her ashes in various dive sites - both sites where she'd been and loved and sites where she wanted to go. Together, we traveled to Cozumel, Florida (several times), Bimini and Thailand. In fact, every one of the most memorable dives I've had has been with Frannie by my side. I feel blessed to have been Fran's best friend, and to have had her as mine, during the past 4 years and will forever be grateful to the D2D board, where I first met her, for having had the opportunity to become her friend and dive buddy.
In addition, I have started a memorial website and memorial fund - the proceeds of which will go towards a memorial reef ball (through Eternal Reefs) to be placed in South Florida (site unknown as of yet) as part of starting a new reef. The website is: http://www.underseadreams.com
