Francis Webb, 89, of Chester

Frances Webb, 89, passed away peacefully at her Chester home on Sept. 30, 2024. She was born Frances Ahmann on April 9, 1935, on a small farm in Hartsburg, Missouri, the third of four siblings. Tragically, both parents, Raymond and Martha Ahmann, were lost to cancer by the time Frances was just 13.

She graduated from a local junior college and moved to St. Louis, where she worked for Braniff Airlines. She transferred to their New York City base and enjoyed the late 1950s folk scene in Greenwich Village and traveling. She switched to TWA where she soon met and married Robert Webb. They had two sons and moved to Brookfield, Conn., where they enjoyed the beauty of Candlewood Lake, swimming and water skiing. The family would often travel to southern Vermont to ski and so, after a divorce, she took her two sons and moved to Chester, Vermont.

Frances worked for several years in the 1970s at the well-known Chester Inn, playing tennis and skiing with the boys. She eventually started her own successful business, Cuddly Critters, on Main Street in Ludlow, and ran it for 20 years. Along the way she developed an interest in hand drumming and astronomy through the Chester-based Southern Vermont Astronomy Group.

After retirement ,she became more involved with the Fletcher Farm Community Garden in Ludlow, and tended plots there for many years. A music lover, she liked attending the summer music concert series of Chester and surrounding towns, and occasionally well-known names like B.B. King, Tina Turner and, most recently, Marty Stuart.

She is survived by her two sons, Mark, of Chester, and Matt and his wife Mary Ann of Danby, and their two sons Brennan and Christian, and by sister Joyce Allan of Hartsburg, Missouri, and many nieces and nephews.

Per her wishes, no service is planned.