Happy 108th Birthday: Frances Shutt

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Frances Shutt is a life-long educator, author and World War II veteran who will celebrate her 108^th birthday on < 11-12-2020>.

On her 100^th birthday, she was recognized on NBC’s “Today Show.”

Frances tells about her military training in her autobiography: “While living in Albuquerque during the attack on Pearl Harbor, I wanted to find out how I could help, so I took flying lessons and training at Sandia Base to become a Women’s Aviation Service Pilot (WASP).” Frances was employed as a teacher, so her days started pre-dawn. She began her day with flight training, then returned home to prepare breakfast for her husband and young son, then went to school for her day of teaching students.

Frances also tells about her love of teaching in her autobiography: “When I was five-years-old, I decided I wanted to teach. I began by showing my pet rabbit how to sit in a little chair at a tea table, put her front feet on the table and eat oatmeal from her dish.”

Frances began teaching school at age 19 in Oklahoma, and continued her classroom work for a total of 83 years. In 1941, she earned her BA from Northeastern Teachers University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and her MA in 1954 at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. She was certified in Special Education and specialized in teaching homebound and hospitalized students. She authored the “First-Grade Guide” that became the core text for primary-grade teachers.

Through her family’s foreign missionary work, she became interested in teaching students from around the world. Over four decades, she taught ESL (English as a Second Language) to students from 46 countries at First Baptist Church, Las Cruces, in the International Department.

Frances enjoyed teaching students from around the world and tells the story of a circle of friends.

For two years, four young ladies in her ESL class became good friends. They were from Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Israel. Frances and her students had luncheons, parties, trips to Mexico, and went shopping together. The students asked why their countries couldn’t learn to be friends like they were.

Frances has maintained contact with her former students world-wide and cherishes the boxes of postcards and letters from her students.

Frances has been president of many educational organizations, including the Las Cruces Association of Educational Retirees.

Happy 108^th Birthday, Frances Shutt <11-12-2020>

With much love and many blessings,

From: Hannah & Bill Monsimer

  In loving memory of “Itty Bitty”- - who was Frances Shutt’s cat <^..^>