Frances Sites

Frances Catharine (Besecker) Sites of Chambersburg, formerly of Fayetteville, died on Thursday, June 7, 2012 in the Chambersburg Hospital. She was born on April 7, 1914 in Chambersburg, the daughter of the late Horace M. Besecker, Sr. and Cora Catharine (Coble) Besecker. She graduated from the Chambersburg High School as the valedictorian of her class in 1931 and from Wilson College in 1935. She was married to Wayne E. Sites from 1936 until his death in 1985.

Mrs. Sites was employed by the Franklin County Courts from 1958 until her retirement in 1977. During that time she served as Domestic Relations Officer and later as Chief of Probation and Parole. She was a member of the Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, an associate member of St. John Lutheran Church in Greenvillage, a member of the Kittochtinny Franklin County Historical Society, and formerly, the Coble Family Historian.

She is survived by two sons, Dr. Edward W. Sites and his wife Dorothy of Pittsburgh, PA and Dr. William H. Sites and his wife Anne of Swannanoa, NC; a brother, Horace M. Besecker, Jr. of Lexington, MA; a sister, Mrs. Helen L. Showalter, of Chambersburg; four grandchildren, Andrew E. Sites (and Audrey) of Export, PA, Dr. Catharine M. Benedict (Mrs. Todd) of Landisville, PA, Dr. Heather A. Riley (Mrs. M. Jason) of Medina, OH, and Christopher W. Sites (and Karrie) of Hutsonville, IL; ten great grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. A brother, the Rev. Samuel L. Besecker, died in 1997.

Frances was keenly interested in Franklin County history and her family’s history. She and her husband, Wayne (a student in Saint Thomas of local historian, Harry E. Foreman), recorded and catalogued the inscriptions on thousands of stones in numerous small and abandoned cemeteries throughout Franklin County using chalking, rubbing, and other techniques. On one occasion she was shot from an adjoining property but only slightly injured while kneeling in front of an ancient stone on which she was working. Her family history research and publications were based almost exclusively upon original and primary documentation and extended to the Besecker, Coble, Crider, Fetterhoff, Rock, Sites, Wingert, Wise, Zarger and other of her and her husband’s family lines. Among the subjects of her family research were the arrival of her ancestors in the American colonies in 1710, the settlement of Besecker Gap in Quincy Township in 1750, the Coble massacre of 1755, the military service of her ancestors during the Revolutionary War, the founding of Crider’s Church in Hamilton Township about 1790, the founding of Fetterhoff Chapel in Guilford Township in 1802, the establishment of Coble Cemetery near St. Thomas in 1845, the roles of her family during the Civil War (especially the Gettysburg Campaign), and the facts about hundreds of other events and people. Five of her great grandparents were living when she was born, and as a young adult, she knew four great grandparents well including Crider, Besecker, and Coble great grandparents who were born in 1842, 1843, and 1845.

Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00 PM Sunday at the Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 333 Falling Spring Road, Chambersburg, PA.

Funeral services will be held from the Saint Paul Lutheran Church, 44 East Main Street, Fayetteville, PA at 10:00 AM on Monday, June 11, 2012 with the Rev. Eloise Shanley officiating. Burial will be in Coble Cemetery, Coble Road, Saint Thomas, PA.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lutheran Theological Seminary, 61 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg, PA 17325 or the Kittochtinny Franklin County Historical Society, 175 East King Street, Chambersburg, PA 17201.