Frances Kareores

Frances ( Pappas) Kareores, beloved wife of Stathis Kareores (deceased) of Whitman, MA, formerly of Brockton, MA, passed away May 26, 2012 after a short illness. She was 89.Frances was the daughter of the late Harry (Aristides) and Viola (Paraskevoula) Pappas, who were born in Greece and settled in Brockton, MA. Graduating from Brockton High School in 1940 and she continued her education receiving a secretarial degree. She worked as a stenographer at various Brockton companies but returned to the family restaurant business after her marriage in 1947. The family moved to Whitman in 1955 and she began to take an interest in teaching when her children were older. Starting in the 1960s, she began to teach sewing through the Adult Education Programs in both Whitman and Brockton and eventually received a teaching certificate from Westfield State College. This certificate led to a 20 plus year career of being a permanent substitute teacher, the famous “Mrs. K”, at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School until the late 1980s. Her real passions in life were fashion design, gardening and dancing. Frances was a custom tailor who would create haute couture quality clothing by simply seeing them in a magazine and then make her own patterns. She shared this gift with her “girls”, the women who took the same Introduction to Sewing through Adult Education for 25 years. It started as a class but became a social event and a bond of long term friendship for all of them. Along with her husband Stathis, they both shared their love for gardening and dancing. They met shortly after WWII at a USO dance and eventually became champion ballroom dancers swinging to the likes of Duke Ellington and Artie Shaw. During a Parents’ weekend at Holy Cross College, they were remembered by Lionel Hampton who asked the crowd to make room and allow them to dance. After which they received a standing ovation.