In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made in Frances A. Lawson memory to Twelfth Baptist Church Lawson Scholarship Fund, 150 Warren Street, Roxbury, MA 02119

Frances Anita Coleman Lawson was born in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, August 6, 1927 to Robert Coleman and Ora Rebecca (née Jackson) Coleman. She was the third of seven children born of this union. In her early years, she was affectionately called "Finto" by her siblings and later would be known as "Franny". Living in Cleveland, their next-door neighbors were the Owens family, and the girls would sit on their porch and watch a young Jesse Owens run up and down the street preparing for the 1936 Olympics. Across the street, distant relative Carrie Hughes – mother of Langston Hughes – would often do the girls' hair.

When Frances was nine years old, the family relocated to Oberlin, Ohio. The children would attend the Missionary Alliance Church with their mother where she learned the importance of faith and commitment to Christ. Upon the death of their mother in 1941, Frances and her siblings began attending the local Seventh Day Adventist Church with their uncle, which would further shape her faith and strengthen her determination to live for Christ.

As a child, Frances loved to play the piano and was known to be a friendly child. However, she also did not suffer fools lightly. She did not like being called out of her name, and if anyone did so, they would soon learn to regret it! She was fiercely loyal to and protective of her family. Whenever someone would say or do anything to any of her siblings, they would have to answer to her.

In 1945, Frances graduated from Oberlin High School and joined her older sisters at Oakwood College (now University) in Huntsville, Alabama where she majored in Christian Education. In the summer of 1950, Frances traveled with her classmate to Everett, Massachusetts with the plan to work for the summer and return to Alabama to complete her schooling. However, it was here where she met the young pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Malden, Rev. Earl W. Lawson, a graduate of Morehouse College and Andover Newton Theological Seminary. On December 30, 1950, they were married by the late Rev. Dr. A. Roger Williams.

Frances settled into being the minister's wife and secured a job with Shrafft's Candy Factory in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston as a packer. From there she worked for Sears and Roebuck in Cambridge. During all of this, she served Emmanuel as the teacher of the national Philathea Bible Class, and in other capacities within the church.

In 1959, Frances and Earl became the proud parents of a daughter, Rachel. As her husband became more involved with the Civil Rights Movement as an outcome of his friendship with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frances stayed behind and devoted her time to raising her daughter. Her loyalty and protective nature from her childhood was transferred towards her daughter, and she made sure no one would mistreat Rachel.

When Rachel began school, Frances took a job as an accountant for the Everett Pattern Works, a small family-owned business. She worked one day a week for several years. As Rachel grew, she took a job as a teller for Malden Savings Bank where she worked for several years. In the late 1970's she became a teller with the U. S. Customs Service and Border Control where she worked until her retirement in 2012.

Sensing a deeper call on her life, in 1975, Frances joined Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury where she became an active member. She became part of the TBC Bellringers, served as a Treasurer for the Women's Fellowship and served as the Church Treasurer for several years. She was nominated and elected to serve as a Deaconess; however, as she explained, she would rather serve as a Deacon and would consider serving in that capacity if it ever became possible for women to be ordained as Deacons. Frances remained a faithful member of Twelfth Baptist Church under the three most recent pastors: Rev. Dr. Michael E. Haynes, Rev. Dr. Arthur T. Gerald, Jr., and Rev. Dr. Willie Bodrick, II.

Although her marriage to Earl did not last, ending in 1978, they remained friends until his death in 2012. She continued to support his ministry, attending services whenever he preached in the Boston area, and they remained in regular communication with one another.

Frances had a heart for young preachers, musicians and especially ministers' wives (first ladies). She was a woman of wisdom, grace and dignity. Many times, while fulfilling her duties as Treasurer, the Trustee Room became her counseling room where she would dispense pearls of wisdom to the young preachers and musicians, who many times would seek out her guidance and insights.

Frances was the very epitome of an independent woman, and whenever she decided there was somewhere she wanted to go or something she wanted to do, she would find a way to get there and get it done. She enjoyed extracurricular activities such as bowling, attending plays, traveling to Christian holy sites across the world, spending time with her dear friends and adopted daughters, Liz, Vera and Freda, doting on her grandsons, Segun and Ademola, talking on the phone with family and friends from near and far, and reading. She was a voracious reader, with a wide range of taste in reading materials, reflected in the immense library she leaves behind.

On the morning of Wednesday, January 28, 2026, Frances heard the voice of her Savior calls her gently home and she quietly and peacefully slipped into eternity. She is preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Ora Coleman; her sisters, Anna Coleman Pruitt, Esther Coleman Battle, and Grace Coleman Lightner; her brothers, Robert Coleman and Melvin Coleman; and her granddaughter, Olawumi Bethany Idowu. She leaves to cherish her memory, her daughter Rachel Idowu Gray (William) of Baltimore, Maryland; grandsons, Oluwasegun Idowu and Ademola Idowu, both of Boston, Massachusetts; brother, Samuel Coleman (Naomi) of Oberlin, Ohio; adopted daughters, Min. Elizabeth Crockton, Vera Franklin, both of Boston, Massachusetts and Freda Johnson Jones of Ghana, Africa. In addition, she leaves a host of nieces and nephews, godchildren, relatives, friends and her church family.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue … Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised".  Proverbs 31:25-26;30 (NIV)