Frances Kosko

Frances Lee Wheelock Kosko left this beautiful world on August 11, 2024; she was 76 years old. Fran is survived by son Christopher Thomas, daughter Jennifer Lee, grandchildren Alec, Julian, Ayla (husband James), Cecilia (husband David/”DJ”) and Austin, plus two well-loved great-grandchildren, Oliver and Carter. She was preceded in death by daughter Elizabeth Ann.

Fran was born on December 15, 1947, in Auburn, Washington and grew up in the small town of Buckley. She was lucky to be the daughter of Lee and Marian (Streeper) Wheelock. She loved but tried to ignore her two younger brothers, Mark and Warren and enjoyed the life of freedom that living in a rural setting in the 1950's allowed children. Her favorite pastime was to climb a tree with a book and spend the day.

Marrying her college sweetheart and hometown boy, Ken, was the best decision she ever made. They shared a lifetime with their children and the many friends they gathered around them in their Monmouth, Oregon home. There was always enough food to feed whoever walked through the door, and their goal was to build a foundation of happy memories for their family and friends.

Whether it was Camp Kosko for the kids, at least forty 4th of July celebrations with everyone they knew or the many dinners and holiday parties, the house was always full, and Fran and Ken loved the sound of laughter in their home.

Second only to her love of family and friends was her love of books. The Monmouth Public Library was close to her heart, and she spent many wonderful years working behind the circulation desk, recommending books to anyone who asked and enjoying generations of young readers. Ken always said that Fran could cook, vacuum or bathe a child with a book in the other hand.

If you would like to donate to the Monmouth Friends of the Public Library in her name, she would have loved that. But more than anything, Fran would be happy to know that you spent time with someone you love taking a ride, sharing a meal, watching a movie any of the small pleasures of life that are the building blocks to happiness.

And finally, one of Fran’s favorite quotes, best describes her deep love and appreciation for her husband, Kenneth Andrew Kosko, also deceased:

“When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he shall be the face of heaven so fine
That all world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”

― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet