Mary Frances Le Tulle

July 11, 1947 - May 22, 2021

Mary Frances Le Tulle, known to friends and family as “Francie” or “France,” passed away on May 22, 2021, after a long battle with cancer. Francie was strikingly beautiful, with long dark hair and large brown eyes, like her mother and namesake, Mary Frances Bowdoin Le Tulle. In her youth, middle, and old age, she attracted many friends. Even as age turned her hair white, and the cancer began to destroy her body, her face maintained it’s lovely appearance. She was glamorous and loved to go out in the evening in jewels, sparkles, and fine apparel. She glittered. She glowed. She loved the spotlight and had pizazz. Francie was highly intelligent, with a clever and quick wit. As an artist and painter, she was imaginative; as an elementary art teacher, warm and caring. She loved meeting people from every culture, and she incorporated into her own life the elements of many cultures. Her accomplishments were varied: She acted in a play at the University of Texas, where she obtained degrees in French and Italian. She also earned a masters degree in counseling at Texas A&I (now part of A&M University). She joined a sorority at UT, played the symbols in the Longhorn Band, taught English in South Korea, where she also acquired a black belt in karate. She was involved with an anti-aging medical society. She taught meditation and wrote books; specifically, one about dream interpretation and another about color therapy. There will always be more to say about Francie—-more to remember, more to understand, more to shed tears over. She was like a giant jigsaw puzzle: there were so many aspects to her personality and character that no one person could see all of them. Most people saw only a small piece, a part of the whole person. Only God could ever put together all the pieces to reveal the beautiful portrait He designed in the person of Frances Le Tulle. She was enchanting and enigmatic, had enormous charisma, was funny and fiery and feisty. Her quick and clever wit was appreciated by her friends and family, as well as her excellent and very keen intellect. She was also loving and kind, offering compassion and a sympathetic ear to many. Her friends loved her very much, and even people she had only known a short time were impressed and amazed, drawn to the magnet that was Frances Le Tulle. Had life’s vagaries gone a little differently for her, she had the seeds of true greatness within. Finally, Francie was proud of her heritage— French and Native American on her mother’s side, from the Bowdoins of Lindale—and French on her father’s side, from Matagorda County. She spoke frequently about the Bowdoin ancestors, James Bowdoin, founder of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and also of her extended Bowdoin family, including her grandfather, John R. Bowdoin, a farmer and businessman of Lindale and Smith County. She was also proud of her grandfather on her father’s side, John James LeTulle, Jr., of Bay City. She was proud that the family name came from Tulle, France, and she often spoke about a royal connection through Count Victor Le Tulle, purportedly an attaché to Napoleon Bonaparte. She wanted to go to France before she passed away, but it was not possible to fulfill this wish. Now, she has gone to live in another place and in another dimension, where, surely, all her best qualities can shine and flash and flourish, unencumbered, in the care of her Heavenly Father. She is survived by her sister, Suzanne Bowdoin Le Tulle, her nephew, James Stearman, Jr., her great niece, Jaycee Stearman, and great nephew, Brodie Stearman, cousins on the Bowdoin and Le Tulle sides of the family. She specifically wanted George Loving, her uncle, to know that she tried and wanted to come to see him before her death, but she was unable to do so. A private family funeral will be held in Lindale on Saturday, May 29, followed by a celebration of life in Horseshoe Bay, Texas at a time and day yet to be determined. Those wishing to honor Frances are invited to contribute to the charity or charities of their own choosing, or to send remembrances to Caudle-Rutledge Funeral Home, P.O. Box 5, Lindale, Texas 75771. May the Lord bless her and welcome her to a mansion big enough to hold her vibrant, fiery light, her warm and loving spirit, and all her creative ideas. May peace surround her eternally. She will be greatly missed.