Frances Hanger Brooks

Frances “Fran” Hanger Brooks of Marietta died Wednesday, August 25 after an extended illness. She was 74.

A devoted and loving wife and mother, Fran taught special education in Cobb County for 22 years. She was loved by her students and colleagues. She was twice named teacher of the year.

Fran is survived by her husband of nearly 50 years John Robert Brooks, III; her son Patrick Hanger Brooks; her daughter Addison Wells Brooks; her daughter-in-law Larissa C. Brooks; and her granddaughter Talia H. Brooks.

A graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina with a degree in special education, Fran also attended Montreat Anderson Junior College in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Brought up in a military family, Fran was born in Selma, Alabama and later lived in Okinawa, Germany and Northern Virginia, where her father served tours at the Pentagon. She was graduated from George Marshall High School in Falls Church, Virginia.

After graduation from college, Fran taught special education at Northwest Middle School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She and John were married in 1971 and began raising their family there. After their children were born, she stopped teaching to be a full-time mom and do volunteer work. She was active at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and was named Woman of the Year by the Old Town Junior Woman’s Club in 1981.

Fran and her family moved to Marietta in 1983. While at home, she began a small business, Giggles, first selling balloons in the neighborhood and then becoming a crafter and participating in local craft shows. Her earnings paid for the family’s Christmases.

In 1991, Fran returned to the classroom, first at Mabry Middle School and then at East Cobb Middle School, where she taught until she retired in 2013. She and her family have attended St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, Marietta for 38 years.

Fran was predeceased by her parents, Col. John W. Hanger and Annie Laurie Warren Hanger; her sister, Ann Hanger Wiseman and her brother John W. Hanger, Jr. She is also survived by her sister Jane Hanger Seeley of Minneapolis, Minnesota; her-brother-in-law Walter R. Wiseman of Chocowinity, North Carolina, and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, September 4, at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, 571 Holt Road NE, Marietta, Georgia 30068. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that expressions of sympathy be made to the charity of choice or St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church.