Frances "The Great Grambini" Mae Norcross

Frances "Little Mother" Mae Norcross, 85, of North Attleboro, MA, passed away peacefully on Friday, December 27, 2019 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, with her loving family at her side. She was the beloved wife of the late Gordon R. Russ who died on December 31, 2016, and the former wife of the late Matthew H. Madden.
Born on May 11, 1934 in Boston, MA, she was the daughter of the late Theodore Norcross and the late Theo (Pomeroy) Norcross.
A resident of North Attleboro for the past ten years, she previously lived in Dorchester, MA for forty years, and for many years in Roxbury, MA.  She worked for more than twenty years as a Supervisor for CFK in South Boston before retiring. Frances always cherished her role as a homemaker and mother for her family.
She was a strong and stoic woman of great faith. Frances was for many years a single mother who worked hard to provide for her daughters and instilling in them an appreciation for culture and the arts. She enjoyed attending the theatre, the symphony and the opera with her family, as well as traveling with them to, among other places, Washington, DC, Florida, annually to New York City and to Ground Zero, as well as spending summers on Robbins Pond in East Bridgewater, MA. Frances was proud of her Native American and Irish heritage; delighted in listening to music, especially the "oldies" and "Standards"; enjoyed occasional trips to the casino and with the Plainville Senior Center; and loved animals of every kind, especially her bird, "Noah", and her late Chihuahua, "Hopi".
Frances will always be missed, never forgotten, and forever remembered by her family each time they hear the classic children's prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."
Frances leaves her children: Her "Heart", Christine M. McDonagh, and her husband, John G. McDonagh, of North Attleboro, MA; and her "Soul", Colleen F. Mearls and her husband, Paul M. Mearls, of Norton, MA.  Frances was the proud grandmother of Carressa M. Mearls of Bridgewater, MA; Ethan Matthew Robert Mearls of Norton, MA; and Theo "Blondie Poof" M. Mearls of Norton, MA; and the adoring great-grandmother of Illiana M. Furlong and Rylie A. McKuskie.  She was predeceased by three sisters and one brother, and leaves numerous nieces and nephews and many dear friends.
Friends and family are cordially invited to honor and remember Frances by gathering for a Memorial Visitation on Saturday, January 11, 2020 from 12:00 Noon until 1:30 p.m. in the "Memorial Chapel" of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro, MA, immediately followed by a Memorial and Celebration of Life Service at 1:30 p.m. at Dyer-Lake Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Frances the Town of North Attleboro, Attention - Animal Shelter, 43 South Washington Street, North Attleboro, MA 02760.
For additional information or to send the family a written expression of sympathy, please visit an online guest book at www.dyer-lakefuneralhome.com .
Arrangements are under the direction of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro. (508) 695-0200

"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Bless the bed that I lie on.  Dear Jesus, all four corners 'round and 'bout when I get in when I get out. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.  Amen"