Frances “Fran” Kanter, age 76 years, of the Bronx, NY, died suddenly but peacefully on Monday, July 11, 2022, at Regeis Care Center, Bronx, NY.

Born on June 9, 1946, in the Bronx, she was a daughter of the late Herman Bernard Kanter and Diane Landau Kanter.

A lifelong area resident, Fran graduated from Christopher Columbus High School and worked for many years in executive employment recruiting.

To know Fran is to know she was truly one of a kind, and loved unconditionally. She lived with a purpose of helping others, even when it was difficult for her to do so due to several of her own serious medical issues.

A botched surgery in her younger years left Fran with a temporary colostomy that allowed her to truly understand what it means to have, and to live with an ostomy. She volunteered for over thirty years at the Ostomy Association of New York (OANY), formerly known as the Colostomy Society of New York. It was at the Society where Fran served on the Board of Directors, at one point serving as Vice-President. Though her own colostomy was reversed, she still had lifelong associated issues and instead of this weighing her down, she used her experiences to help and counsel others so they could lead fulfilling lives. It was a passion that never faded throughout the years and gave Fran a sense of purpose and meaning in her own life.

Fran’s caring heart also led her to volunteer for many years at The Center of Healing, Flushing, Queens, NY. This center focused on educating the community on wellness and wholeness as humans. Her work at the center, based on devotion, loyalty, and unwavering support of all those who walked in the door, made her lifelong friends who truly became her extended family.

Family was important to Fran, and she stayed close to her sister, Ann, and brother, Mark, as well as their families. Though not having children of her own, she loved her nephews, Jeffrey and Josh, as her own, and was elated when she became a great aunt to Jeffrey’s sixteen month old son, Jakub, whom she loved to sing Peter Cottontail and Old MacDonald through the phone on a regular basis. Fran loved to chat on her ‘old school flip phone’ with Ann, and the pair challenged each other with daily calls to see who had the correct answer to Final Jeopardy!

Though her passing came suddenly, her compassion, her ability to turn her own inner struggles into helping and healing moments for others, and her extreme love of family, extended family, and friends, will not ever be forgotten.

Surviving are her sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Joseph Hersch; her brother, Mark Kanter; her nephews, Jeffrey Hersch and his wife, Gina Rizza Hersch, and Josh Hersch; her great nephew, Jakub Hersch; several cousins and extended family; and many dear friends made as she traveled her path of life.

Graveside services officiated by Rabbi Gregg Ackerman at Montefiore Cemetery, 121-83 Springfield Boulevard, Springfield Gardens, NY, 11413, 718-528-1700, were private under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Fran’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

As is custom in the Jewish faith, no flowers please. Memorial contributions in her honor may be made to Ostomy Association of New York, via mail to OANY, P.O. Box 187, Gedney Station, White Plains, NY 10605, or online by clicking HERE.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”

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