Francine Christopher

On April 21, 1942 John and Ann Hunter welcomed their second of nine children in Orange, NJ. They named her Francine Cornelia Hunter. Fran, as she was lovingly called by family and close friends, was a quiet and shy child. In the Valley, while most kids were outside playing, Fran would be off somewhere reading. Being the second oldest of nine children, she took her senior position very seriously, always protecting her younger siblings. This sense of advocacy became one of Fran’s strongest characteristics. Not only did she advocate for family and friends but for anyone that she felt was being treated unfairly. Fran was educated through the Orange, New Jersey public school system. At the age of fifteen, she decided to venture out on her own, earning her GED and later a bachelor degree in Social Work from Bloomfield College. She became a social worker for the state, working with foster children. This position eventually lead to her becoming a supervisor for this department. There were many times when foster children had no place to go and had to stay overnight at Fran’s home or needed clothes and food which she spent her own money to purchase. Once again, Fran was there advocating, this time for the foster children. She refused to leave foster children in any home that she felt was unworthy of these children. Once she nearly got into a physical brawl with a foster parent because Fran refused to leave the foster child at the home as it was not clean and the foster parent was inebriated. Those of you that knew Fran knows that she can handle herself. Fran had other careers throughout her life. She ventured into teaching in the Newark Public Schools as well as the life insurance industry. Fran was loving, caring, quiet with a global intellect. She cherished her family and friends and was the proud mother of her only child, Perry. She wanted the best for him, introducing him to travelling, movies, plays, museums, operas, and other cultural events. Fran instilled in Perry at a very young age to strive to be your best and to stand for something and not be all talk. She used to say, “Don’t be like everybody else. Think for yourself.” As Fran was being a mother to Perry, she also took on the responsibility of assisting other family members over the years. She spent time with all of her nieces and nephews ( Darren, Kim, Rochelle, Tom, Donald, and Malik) as well as their children and her grandson, Kai, taking them to the zoo, roller skating, movies, park, and the beach. Sometimes she and her sister, Gertrude, would have sleepovers with just the kids. The kids used to love the sleepovers because it meant doing whatever they wanted. To us parents, it was chaos. In the end the kids always seemed to have learned something like how to read, use a telescope and identify the stars in the sky, make cookies, pizza, model airplanes, origami, or how to knit. Fran had many friends over the years. Bernice Carwise was Fran’s oldest and dearest friend. They met nearly sixty years ago and always managed to keep in contact even after Bernice moved out of state. She has always been there for Fran and was like a second mother to Perry. Bernice was part of Fran’s village. When asked what was it about Fran that stood out? Bernice replied, “She was a positive person and was friendly. She went out of her way to make me feel like I mattered and always looked out for me”. A second friend of Fran was Marie Daniels. Marie thought of Fran not only as a friend but a mother figure. She learned so many life lessons from Fran over the years. Fran leaves behind her son, Perry Hunter, Carolyn (daughter-in-law), and Kai ( grandson), Willette Gipson(sister), Edward Peterson, Tom Page(nephew) and his family: Linda Estrada- Page, Selena Page, Michaela Brown, Mason Stokes, Valentina Brown, Daniel Brown, Rochelle Caraway, Kim Page and husband Camil, Amirah Page, DJ Page, Eric Page, Steven Reynolds, and a host of other family members and friends.

Francine Christopher

April 21, 1942 - September 22, 2025