Frances Coughlan
(née McCarthy)

Obituary for Frances Coughlan (née McCarthy)
27 October 1938 – 27 November 2025

Big things have humble beginnings, and so it was with Frances Coughlan. She entered the world on October 27th, 1938, on a small farm in Lissane, Drimoleague, County Cork in the south of Ireland. She was the twelfth child of a dairy farmer and his wife, Daniel and Hannah McCarthy (née Caverly).

 

By all accounts, this sprightly child grew up in a home that valued hard work, decency and kinship. Her parents and older siblings—some almost parental figures to her—were a loquacious lot, where getting a word in edgewise was no easy feat. Frances adored her family and often reminisced fondly about her life “at home”.

 

Ever the adventurer, Frances set out to find her fortune. She enrolled in a nursing program in Galway, where she was courted by Michael Xavier (“Dave”) Coughlan. After graduation in 1957, she became a district midwife in Belfast, pedalling her bicycle to get to and from deliveries! Recognized for her skill and dedication, she was promoted into a head nurse position, an honour that was rescinded when the hospital administrator discovered she was Catholic. Undeterred, she moved to London where she worked as a senior nurse.

 

In 1966 Frances embarked on her boldest journey yet: she accepted a job as a nurse and midwife at Luzmila Hospital in Amman, Jordan. The Six-Day War forced her evacuation, so she returned to Ireland where she and Dave were married in Donegal on January 4th, 1968. By May of that year, they did what millions of Irish had done before them: they emigrated to the New World, settling in Edmonton, Alberta.

 

Initially she felt a profound sense of loss—her home and family were an ocean away. It didn’t take long, however, for Frances to meet the new neighbours and to connect with the burgeoning Irish diaspora, who all welcomed her with warmth and humour. The foundations were laid for friendships that would last a lifetime. In 1969, Dave and Frances purchased a house on St. George’s Crescent, the beloved neighbourhood where she would reside until an unexpected illness would chart her final course.

 

By 1975, four children had been added to the mix. In her heart, Ireland remained “home,” but new roots were penetrating the Canadian soil. Frances was a homemaker who served her children by endlessly driving to music lessons and sporting events; shopping, making meals, and volunteering for school field trips, not to mention acting as the neighbourhood’s relief “papergirl”. In her spare time—what little she had—she volunteered with the Opera Guild, delivered large-print library books to the elderly, and canvassed donations for the Heart and Stroke Foundation (to name but a few of the organizations she supported).

 

When her children grew more independent, Frances began working part-time with Little Friends Preschool. And, by the mid-1980s, she enrolled in a Registered Nurse refresher program. She graduated during a deep economic recession but nevertheless secured what she proudly referred to as “the last full-time nursing job at the Edmonton General Hospital”. She would work at the Edmonton General for close to 20 years before moving to the Glenrose Hospital, where she dedicated herself to rehabilitation medicine until retirement.

 

Now, one might question Frances’ understanding of the word “retirement”: she continued to accept relief shifts, including working weekends and holidays so younger colleagues could be at home with their families. She gave up paid work in 2009 but didn’t rest—she became a tireless volunteer at the General Hospital, where she faithfully served the elderly until COVID regulations forced her to stop.

 

She loved to travel, and in later years ventured to the Galápagos Islands, Machu Picchu, and Spain where she hiked El Camino de Santiago. She, of course, continued her pilgrimages back to Ireland, which she still referred to as “home.”

 

Though separated, Frances remained steadfast to her one true love, Dave, who passed in 2015. She suffered the loss but was not left alone: her thriving family now included ten (and eventually eleven) biological grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. Be they angels or devils, they were her raison d'être for the rest of her life. She fed them, drove them, and gave them safe harbour; she hosted sleepovers, picked them up from school, went to their sporting events, attended their concerts, sent them frog emojis and then did it all over again.

 

She was a cyclist. She was a walker. She was an unstoppable force determined from the beginning to build a large, cohesive family with a wide community of friends and neighbours. She is proof that love is not diminished when it is spread: Lissane would always be “home”, but she built a new one here in Edmonton and placed it at the centre of her capacious heart. What a legacy, indeed!

 

Frances will be lovingly remembered by her four children, Helga Shield (Dan), Frank (Gina), Jonathan (Josie), Monica Anderson (David), grandchildren Alexandra, Georgia, Ella, Patrick, Avena, Xavier, Connel, Thomas, Rhys, Henry, Murphie, and two step-grandchildren, Ryan and Blake. Frances is predeceased by her husband of 47 years, Michael Xavier (Dave) Coughlan and her siblings Maura, Peg, Sr. Concepta (Jo), Charlie, Con, Nora, Kathleen, Patty, Dan, Tim, and Teresa.

 

Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.

 

Full obituary including links for online viewing can be found at: www.connelly-mckinley.com

 

Prayers at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, December 16th at Connelly-McKinley Funeral Homes (10011-114 Street NW) with reception to follow. Funeral Mass at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, December 17th at St. Joseph’s Basilica (10044-113 Street NW) with reception to follow. Interment will follow the reception at Edmonton City Cemetery. 11820 107 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB.

 

If you wish, donations in lieu of flowers may be made to any of Frances’s favourite charities: Stollery Children’s Hospital, Women in Need House, Zebra Centre, Youth Empowerment and Support Services, and Mel Miller Hospice.

 

The family wishes to thank the staff on Unit 9Y at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre for their care and compassion.