Frances Turgeon, a 15 year resident of southern Maryland and a student of its history lost her life on November 4th, 2011, at the Hospice of St. Mary's. Mrs. Turgeon was born on 11 November 1938, South Orange, NJ, the eldest of Frederick and Frances Dudley.

She is survived by Charles, her husband of nearly 48 years and a retired Navy Captain, two sisters, Susan and Patricia, three children, Frederick King and his wife Sarah, Jeffrey and his wife Terry, and Christopher and his wife Vicki, and four grandchildren, Kristen, Jonathan, Nicholas, and Emma.

From the outset, Frances was recognized as an accomplished student, graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and receiving a Master of Arts in Teaching from Harvard.

Coming to Washington in 1964, she was employed by Kiplinger Washington Editors, first as a magazine editor and, subsequently over a 31 year period, as the curator of the Kiplinger collection of imagery of historic buildings and monuments of the City of Washington. Acquisition of these painting, etchings, photographs and other historic prints brought her into regular contact with other collectors and curators in the White House, the Smithsonian and other institutions involved in historical research and development.

In 1995, Mrs. Turgeon retired after what the Kiplinger leadership termed "thirty-one years of valued service." She and her husband were well prepared for this transition, having spent much of the preceding ten years in restoring a waterfront home in Hollywood, MD.

Throughout her years in Washington and, more recently, in Southern Maryland, Mrs. Turgeon had deepened her knowledge of the colonial history of the land between the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers and the preservation of their historic structures. Soon after her arrival, Mrs. Turgeon affiliated with Sotterley Mansion, a meticulously restored plantation whose main building predates George Washington's home at Mt. Vernon. The work at Sotterley opened new avenues of research and quickly developed a new circle of friends in the local area. Not long after her arrival she became a member of the Sotterley Plantation Board of Trustees.

Over the past sixteen years, Mrs. Turgeon has pursued with equal vigor the welfare of St. Andrew's Church in Leonardtown, MD. where she served as Chair of the Woman of St. Andrew's, Co-Chair of the Alter Guild, and member of the choir.

Services will be held at St. Andrew's Church, Leonardtown, on Monday, November 14th, at 11 a.m. with a reception following.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice of St. Mary's, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650, or Historic Sotterley, Inc., P.O. Box 67, Hollywood, MD 20636, or St. Andrew's Church, 44078 St. Andrew's Church Road, California, MD 20619.

Arrangements provided by Brinsfield Funeral Home.