Linda Cecile Frank

Please join us in memorializing Linda Cecile Frank’s life on Saturday, November 6th, 2021

Graveside Interment 

9:00 AM, Saturday, November 6, 2021

Longwood Cemetery

945 East Baltimore Pike

Kennett Square, PA 19348

Cemetery Map: (if heading south) on US Rte. 1, exit at Longwood Gardens ramp.  Proceed through stop sign, make left at 1st road (Greenwood).  Cemetery on right hand side.

Note: There will be no virtual component to the interment

Memorial Meeting for Worship

2:00PM, Saturday, November 6, 2021

Cherry Street Meeting House

1501 Cherry Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

Meeting House Map - Notes on parking to follow

Accessibility

The building is fully wheelchair accessible with elevators and ramp access. For those joining via zoom, you can choose to turn on closed captioning to view the transcription of what is being shared in the room. 

Virtual service 

Information for the virtual service will be provided closer to the date.

Late Afternoon: Repast 

Immediately following the funeral service nearby with food provided.

We appreciate the outpouring of love and support that has been shown to us during this time. Please understand that as we move through our grief we may not be able to find the space to adequately respond to your attentions. Forgive us, and know that we appreciate it.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Philabundance, The People’s Emergency Center, or Cherry Street Meeting in the name of our mother.

If you have any questions in the interim, please reach out to robbins.siblings@gmail.com

Linda Cecile Frank

She had a great life….

Vibrant and delightful or contrary and mischievous, Linda Cecile Frank had a robust life that celebrated her complete and full self. She loved and was loved in return, and was surrounded by that love as she entered quietly into rest on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 66 years old. 

A life-long Philadelphian, she was born on February 14, 1955 to the late Cecil Allen Beresford Frank of Choiseul, St. Lucia, West Indies and the late Anna Dolores Frank (née Bland) of Philadelphia, PA. Much of her youth was spent in the 4600 block of Locust Street in West Philadelphia along with her parents, three sisters and two brothers. 

Fiercely intelligent, and unable to get what she needed from traditional educational systems, she researched schools, trying to find the right fit. Her strong determination to figure things out would become a pattern throughout her life. During that search she attended The Westtown School, a Quaker boarding and day school, where she was introduced to the Quaker faith and its emphasis on community and social justice. 

Throughout the rest of her life she was committed to social change. She volunteered, served on boards, and invented and led social innovation initiatives for recycling, women’s health, Girl Scouts, childcare, women and mothers in the workplace, and affordable residential development. 

One of the first women in the Engineering Program at the University of Pennsylvania, she had a life-long love of STEM and computing, and was involved in early campus trials with personal computing. During her time at Penn, she met the love of her life, Leon Wallace Robbins, Jr. and they were married on May 6, 1978 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Together they raised Leon Wallace Robbins, III (Leon’s son from his first marriage), Grace Anna Farrow, and Rachel Agnes Miles. 

Being capable of commanding other’s attention while making a lasting impression she endeavoured towards compassion and connection; always making space for greetings, learning someone's name and remembering details of their life. To know her was to be given a chance to witness her radiance and few were left unchanged by having known her. 

Linda was a collector of people, having decades long friendships from every season of her life. It was her fascination with people and her bemusement with their motivations that kept her moving onto new career positions and trajectories throughout her work life but also in off hours. Growing a brilliant career that spanned public service, non-government organizations, chemical engineering, and recruitment for pharmaceutical research and development.   

Linda loved parades, enough that she would cross the country multiple times to see them. She loved fireworks so much that even her sickness did not deter her. She was a devoted baseball fan attending spring training and kept the Phillies 2008 World Series win is proudly commemorated in her home. 

And of course she loved the beach, more than all of these … combined. 

Quick-witted, vibrant, and always curious, she nurtured the intellect and creativity of her children and others. She was a natural storyteller and could weave a compelling narrative about even the most mundae. She delighted in crafting captivating narratives. 

Linda had an appetite for learning and maintained her computer savvy. Using social media and personal devices to maintain her friendships and cultivate new ones. 

Always quick with the kind of joke that could make you feel seen and understood, she never lost her sense of humor even through her years-long battle with breast cancer that led to a terminal diagnosis in 2017. It was this humor that sustained her, throwing a “bosom buddy” party (serving MilkDuds) and scoffing at the indignities of chemo. 

While her body never got a chance to be as old as her soul she never let that stop her from wholeheartedly loving her family, cherishing her friendships and embracing her community. 

Linda is predeceased by her husband Leon Wallace Robbins, Jr; parents Anna D. Frank and Cecil A. B. Frank, aunts Latisha Frank, Joyce “Bunny” Bradley; uncles Herb Bradley, Rupert Frank, Robert Frank, Felix Frank and Lionel Frank. 

Linda is survived by her children, Leon Wallace Robbins, III, Grace Anna Farrow (née Robbins), her husband Adam Farrow; Rachel Agnes Cuyjet Miles (née Robbins), her husband Bradley Miles; her grandchildren, Christopher Justin Gilbert, Corinne Ashley Chestnut (née Robbins), Justin Chestnut, Helena Cuyjet Robbins, Edith Agnes Farrow, and Dorothy Lenore Farrow; her great-grandchildren Avery Taylor Chestnut, and Emery Savannah Chestnut; siblings and their spouses Lyria and Geoffrey Howland, Lionel and Aseia Frank, Laurene T. “Cindy” and Dr. Charles Hill, Sr., Larry Frank, and Leslie-Anne Frank; her best friend, Wanda Whitted-Smith, brother-in-law Carl Robbins and his wife Sydney Robbins; sister-in-law Cecily; nieces and nephews, Aaron Wiseman, Allegra Dingle, Ana Frank, Ash Robbins, Brandon Williams, Cecil Hill, Charles S. Hill, Jr., Gregory Robbins, James-Brian Miller, Joshua-John Frank, Lindsey Robbins, Marcus Frank, Maya Dingle, Michael Robbins, and Trilby VanDeusen. She leaves to cherish her memory, half-siblings, cousins, friends she’s had for decades who became part of the family, and countless others who she’s touched throughout her life

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