Frances (Fran) Phillips passed quietly on Oct. 23, 2025, at the Brookdale Marianna Butte Clair Bridge facility in Loveland, Colorado. Fran was born in Hastings, Nebraska, and grew up in Grant, Nebraska.
Soon after graduating from high school, she married her high school sweetheart, Jerry Kilgore. They lived in Ogallala, Nebraska, for many years, where they raised their three sons, Scott, Jeff, and Pat Kilgore.
But sometimes marriages don’t last. After their divorce, Fran attended Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, graduating Suma Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in education. This is where she met her second husband, Tim Phillips. She started her teaching career in Omaha and soon after married Tim.
Tim and Fran moved to Estes Park in 1986. Fran taught in the Estes Park school district until 2007 and, over the years, taught first through third graders.
Fran was known as a creative and innovative educator. She and her good friend Kelly Brown taught history camps during the summer at MacGregor Ranch for several years. Afterwards, they started their own summer camps, Creative Discoveries. Such was her love for education that she would teach during the school year and then continue helping young minds grow during the summer.
Fran was also known for her extracurricular activities, such as “bunking with the beasts,” a program where Fran created an after-hours field trip to the Denver Zoo, allowing kids and their parents to stay the night and observe and learn about many of the zoo’s nocturnal animals.
Fran’s insatiable quest for knowledge included trips to other countries such as Greece, Egypt, France, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, and Mexico. She also enjoyed multiple domestic road trips around the United States with some of her girlfriends. It has been rumored that several casks of wine were drained of their delicious nectar along the way.
Fran was nominated as a Colorado teacher of the year. She loved to learn and continued her own self-growth by obtaining her master’s degree focused on teaching the gifted and talented.
After retiring from teaching, she returned to school and earned her certification as a medical assistant, teaching indigent and elderly individuals with diabetes about proper disease management.
Fran was equally community-minded. She served on the Estes Park Music Festival board and the Fine Arts Guild of the Rockies Board, was a member of Eastern Star, and served as part of a Grand Family for a year. She was also a member of PEO and a charter member of chapter HZ.
After moving to Loveland, Fran volunteered with KidsPak, and the Loveland Sculptor show, as well as volunteering at several Loveland elementary schools.
She is survived by her husband Tim Phillips, her sons, and their families, which include nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.