Frances Allen Anderson Coppedge

Frances Allen Anderson Coppedge, November 10, 1930-December 8, 2025. NOTRE DAME, INDIANA – Frances A. Coppedge, 95, passed away peacefully at Holy Cross Village in Notre Dame, Indiana. She was the only child of Romie Cecil Anderson and Fannie Allen Anderson.

She was survived by sons Michael J. Coppedge (Lynn McDonald) of South Bend, Indiana, and Whitley A. Coppedge of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and three grandchildren, Nathan L. Coppedge of New Haven, Connecticut, Brian L. Coppedge (Katherine Huang) of New Haven, Connecticut, and Lydia Coprek (Christopher Coprek) of Lafayette, Indiana. She is preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, John Fletcher Coppedge, and in 2002 by their daughter, Christy Wolf of Dallas, Georgia.

Frances’s childhood was spent in Martin, Sharon, and Humboldt, Tennessee, and she sometimes lived with her paternal grandparents George W. and Ida Anderson and aunts Lillian and Bill at their farm in Weakley County. She was surrounded by many aunts, uncles, and cousins as she was growing up. She graduated from Martin High School in 1948, from Martin Junior College in 1950, and from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1952. During high school she worked at a drug store soda fountain and in a dime store. During college, she worked one summer assisting with medical research in Memphis. She was elected Football Queen in junior college, and throughout her life, even into her nineties, she received compliments on her beauty.

She met John Coppedge at junior college in Martin and they married in 1953, moving together to Columbia, Tennessee, where she taught third grade until Christy was born in 1955. They moved to Bristol when John was hired by Sperry in 1956 and lived briefly on Long Island, New York before returning to Bristol in 1957. Frances stayed at their home in Bellebrook Estates to care for their three children until 1971, when she began teaching mathematics at Vance Junior High School, which she did for the next 17 years. The family also lived for a short time in Ridgecrest, California in 1965 and visited many landmarks in California and the Southwest during that time. Later in life, she enjoyed trips to New England, Nova Scotia and Quebec, Seattle, San Francisco, Jackson Hole, Caracas, and the Caribbean. She and John were devoted bridge players; bridge parties were the highlights of their social life for a long time. She designed floor plans for a new house, which they built on Fairfield Drive in 1987. During retirement, she and John were drivers for Meals on Wheels. She was active in the Bristol Retired Teachers Association. When John had to move to memory care in 2019, Frances lived at Brookdale in Bristol, Virginia, then moved to Indiana to be closer to family.

A private interment and memorial service will take place at Glenwood Cemetery at a date to be announced. Memorial contributions may be sent to First United Methodist Church of Bristol, Tennessee, where she was a member for many years. To send online condolences, please visit https://www.elkhartcremation.com/listings.

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