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Campaigning continues at 99

Good stewards not only pray, they vote, says Elizabeth Francois, 99.

That's why she urges residents at Green Bay's Santa Maria Nursing home, where she has lived for the past six years, to do both.

"I believe in the power of prayer so very, very much," she said. She has convinced other residents to join her in saying grace and the Lord's Prayer. And she has taught them the prayer she says to St. Anthony when she loses an object: "St. Anthony, St. Anthony, look around. Something's been lost, and it has to be found." Then she names the item.

She has seen how prayer can change lives, including one Santa Maria resident who had alcohol problems. She invited the woman to sit with her at Mass. Elizabeth became her mentor and eventually she went back to school and is now a nurse's aide.

Elizabeth is also a champion of voting.

"I always say it's important to vote. It's a privilege; you can't buy it." If residents can't get to the polls, she suggests they use absentee ballots.

Elizabeth was 17 when women got the vote in 1920. Herbert Hoover was running for president when she voted in her first national election. In the 1950s and '60s, her husband, Jim, was a Green Bay alderman, then Brown County board chairman.

Elizabeth recalls campaigning with Jim on East Mason, Jackson, Van Buren and Webster Streets.

"We'd go up and down the streets and always stop and visit with the people a bit." He gave them his card and said, "If you'd like to vote for me, I'd be more than glad to accept it." Then he would turn to his wife and tell her, "I think I'll get that one, Mum."

Politicians frequently came to their home. Sometimes, Elizabeth said, Jim called from the courthouse and asked what she had to eat because a man was coming by. Using a pre-made crust, she could have a pie ready in 40 minutes. When the guest came in, he was likely to say, "I smell a good pie tonight."

Their politician guests included Cletus Vanderperren, Cecil Depeau, Mayor Don Tillman and Sen. Barry Goldwater during his presidential campaign.

"I was impressed with how Grandmother kept politics a family thing," said her granddaughter, Mary McDonald.

Jim was involved with planning for Austin Straubel Airport and the Brown County Arena. "He was a very, very hard working councilman," Elizabeth said.

One evening, a woman phoned to say the sewer was leaking in her basement and she didn't know what to do. "He went right over. That was the kind of husband I had. He was always there to help someone else."

And, he was honest, said their daughter, Carol Maloney. "My father always said, 'You have to be honest in politics.'"

Jim was asked to run for mayor of Green Bay in 1964, but declined after talking it over with his wife. He died in 1965.

"My life with him was a pleasure," said Elizabeth. "I enjoyed it because it made him happy."

With an election coming on April 1 for local offices and the State Supreme Court, she is urging Santa Maria residents to vote by absentee ballot.

Shirley Vandermuss from the Green Bay city clerk's office, said voters must be registered in order to vote by absentee ballot. She has supplied voter registration cards to the city's 11 nursing facilities.

The city clerk's office must receive absentee ballots by 8 p.m. election day.

Information on voting by absentee ballot, which can be done by any person unable to make it to the poll on election day, is available from the clerk in the municipality in which they reside.