Frances H. Noonan

Portsmouth - Frances H. Noonan, 94, formerly of Hampton, died peacefully on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, at the Edgewood Centre in Portsmouth. She was born in Portsmouth on October 4, 1929, a beloved daughter of the late Paul J. and Margaret (Leary) Heffernan. Raised in Portsmouth, she graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1947. She shared nearly 50 years of marriage with John E. Noonan, Jr. who predeceased her in 2006. They married in 1956 at Saint Catherine’s Church in Portsmouth and together built a home in Hampton on Josephine Drive, where they resided for many years. Frances held many jobs over the course of her long life, first helping as a teenager at her grandmother’s store on Bartlett Street, followed by post-high school work at the Portsmouth School Department, a brief stint at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and at the Internal Revenue Service, where she would meet her future husband. After a break to raise the couple’s two children, she worked in the Hampton schools lunch program, the Hampton Co-op Bank, in the office of Attorney Brian Doherty, as a secretary for the Superintendent of Schools Department in Hampton, and in her later years at the Passport Center at Pease. In addition, she volunteered at the voting polls in Hampton and at the Portsmouth Hospital. A resident of Hampton since 1958, she was a communicant of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church. She devoted her considerable energy to her family which was her first and foremost priority. She enjoyed weekly get-togethers with her knitting club, a group of women whose friendship spanned half a century. The meticulous scrapbooks she kept documented her travels, including several cross-country drives to nearly all fifty states, memorable cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean and the Panama Canal as well as a tour of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Frances is survived by her daughter Catherine Noonan and her partner Robert Perry Jr. of Sanford, ME; her daughter Margaret Witherington and her husband Blake of Newburyport, MA; grandchildren, Samantha and Katy Bryan, John Kellam and Emma Frances Witherington; and nieces, Beth Hamm, Lisa Moore and Karen Arbuckle. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her sister, Carole H. Guenther. The family is very grateful for the kindness and care Frances received from the staff at Edgewood Centre. A visiting hour will be held from 10 – 11 AM on Saturday, December 9, 2023 in the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory, 811 Lafayette Road, Hampton, NH, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 11:30 AM at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church, 289 Lafayette Rd., Hampton. Burial will follow in the Calvary Cemetery, Portsmouth. If desired, memorial donations may be made to Catholic Charities New Hampshire by clicking here or by mail to Department D Box 9510, Manchester, NH 03108-9510.

Frances H. Noonan

October 4, 1929 - November 22, 2023