Margaret Warburton Frankland

Peacefully at her home surrounded by her loving family on 23 February 2025, Margaret aged 76 years of Kettering. The devoted and much loved wife of Harry, loving mum of Rachael and John, dear mother-in-law of Mark and Luis, cherished grandma of Annabel, Joseph and Florence, dear sister of Marion and Peter and a loved sister-in-law, auntie, relative and friend to many. Margaret was the epitome of the grammar school girl, growing up alongside classmates of all backgrounds in Nelson during the 1950s and 60s. She was the daughter of Marion Heath, one of the first women to graduate as a pharmacist from Manchester university, and she and her siblings witnessed the hard work and determination of their parents during difficult times, shaping their own future career paths and lives. Margaret took on the responsibility of raising Marion and Peter at a young age when they lost their parents tragically young. One of the memories Margaret shared with family in her final days, talking fondly about her childhood, was that her mum would have been so proud of her, Marion and Peter. Margaret and Harry met in their early twenties, and Margaret was welcomed lovingly into Harry’s huge family: his parents, Anne and John, five sisters, three brothers, and all of the cousins, in-laws, and extended family. They married when Margaret was 22, Harry 24. Rachael was born in 1974 and when Rachael was three years old they took up the opportunity for adventure and moved to London, then St Albans, where John was born in 1981, finally settling in Kettering in the late 1980s. Moving down south for Harry’s work meant lots of opportunities for visits, holidays, and adventures for the extended family and Margaret and Harry loved hosting the gatherings. Margaret always worked during the London and St Albans years – M&S accounts department in Ealing for some time, also childminding, and most memorably hosting foreign students from the London language colleges, sending them all home with good English, but with a Lancashire accent. Margaret ran a bed and breakfast business at Frogmore House while Rachael and John were very young. The added benefit was that there was plenty of room for all the family to visit at the weekends. Margaret worked alongside Harry in their business in Corby, and then established her career in accounting, working as the finance director, participating in a management buy-out, of an engineering business for the last twenty-five years of her working life. From her childhood, and throughout her career and family life, Margaret will be remembered for her kindness, love, resilience and adaptability. She passed this on to her children, as well as a love of literature, art, social history, food, cookery, nutrition, wine, science and the natural world, interior design, and spending time with family and friends. She provided practical, emotional and loving support to her husband, children and grandchildren, had high standards, and endless skills and talents: financial accounting, household budgeting, the correct management of a linen cupboard, dressmaking, knitting, the Cordon Bleu method for a roux sauce, grammar and manners, and of course never serving Yorkshire pudding with anything other than roast beef. She took great pride and enjoyment in her family, her beautiful home and her appearance (perfecting 90s power-dressing – the hair, the heels, the shoulder-pads!). An introvert by nature she would come out of her shell among her dear family and friends, and is remembered fondly for her kindness, fun, and sense of humour, which was fully intact even in her very last days. She would often say (not without irony) that she was too busy getting on with a man’s job in a man’s world to be a feminist, nevertheless Margaret was a great support, inspiration, icon, and a role-model to many, especially her husband, children and grandchildren. Donations are being received in Margaret’s memory on behalf of Marie Curie . To make a donation, please click the ‘Make A Donation’ button at the bottom of this page. Please feel free to leave a message for Margaret online memorial book by completing the form below.   John & Ann Pearson Sending love and prayers. Rest in peace Margaret   Margaret and Mick RIP Margaret , sending our deepest condolences and all our love xxx