Frances Safley Ballenger

is honored with a Brick from Marcus Ballenger

Frances Lee Safley was born January 1, 1938 in Galveston, Texas (1st baby born in Galveston, Texas on January 1) to Marguerite Miller Safley and David Sevilla Safley.  She graduated from Lufkin High School  in 1956 and then attended and graduated from The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.  In high school, Frances was very popular.  She was intelligent and had an outgoing personality.   Queen of the 9 th grade prom, president of the Sophomore Class and secretary of the Honor Society are just a few of her high school honors.  One of her true loves during the high school years and throughout her life was being involved in the Girl Scout Program.   Seven other girls, Frances, and two Girl Scout leaders worked together as a team during their 9th grade year.  This team of girls was determined to earn enough money to finance a trip to Europe.  Spaghetti suppers, newspaper pickups and rummage sales were common happenings for four years. Lufkin service clubs supported the girls with small gifts of money but mostly the clubs offered the girls jobs as servers at banquets and special functions.  At the end of their senior year, the girls had made enough money to travel across the ocean by ship and spend three weeks on the continent touring the capitals of Europe Frances took piano lessons when she was very young.  Her talent was obvious during her piano recitals.  Truly she could have been a professional musician; however, this was not her wish.  She wanted to be an elementary teacher and that is what she became. Frances taught in the Lubbock Texas and Wichita Kansas schools. She completed a master's degree at Wichita State University with a concentration in library science.On December 27, 1958, Frances Lee Safley and Marcus Taylor Ballenger were married.  A baby girl was born to the couple on December 10, 1962 but only lived a short time.  Sheryl Denise Ballenger was born April 23, 1963, Marcus Kevin Ballenger was born on May 18, 1964 and Kary Safley Ballenger was born on February 2, 1967 (died 1997). Frances was a kind and loving mother.  While our marriage ended after 15 years, we remained good friends and retained a mutual respect and appreciation for each other.  Frances died on April 11, 1997. 

Dr. Marcus Taylor Ballenger

Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction

Associate Dean Emeritus of the College of Education Wichita State University