Carol's Corner

I am most pleased to inform you that this month’s speaker is going to be former Inland Valley RS President and current President of the Pacific RS, Frances Kaelke…better known to many of us simply as “Fran”…who, ironically, is one of the judges scheduled to judge our rose show in June. I will tell you more about Fran below, but first of all, I want to pass along to you in her own words what we can expect at our May 2nd program:

Well, the first thing I’m going to do is teach the members how to fill out their entry tags properly. I also want you to tell them to bring their roses to the meeting, because their roses are going to be the program!! If I’m going to talk about exhibiting roses and what judges look for, I need to have the real thing there in front of me.

As you can tell, Fran is a lady who gets right down to business, but let me tell you, it’s always with a great sense of warmth and humor. Indeed, she was a pleasure to converse with and interview, and made my job easy and fun. I found myself feeling like I had known her for years. She’s a delight and I think all of you will truly enjoy her presentation at our May 2nd General Meeting.

Now for a bit of personal information about our colorful May speaker. First of all, Fran is a native Californian, and graduated from college with a Masters in clinical psychology. She has also been a registered years for over 30 years and presently is a nursing consultant for several area attorneys. Fran married Richard “Dick” Kaelke in March of 1973 and the marriage produced two lovely daughters, now grown, with one living in Oklahoma, the other in Northern California, and four grandchildren. Sadly, last April, just before Fran was to speak to our society, Dick took ill suddenly and passed away. Our hearts went out to Fran – those of us who know her well, and even those who don’t, but have heard of the tremendous work she has done to advance the rose in our district. What an amazing woman she is. Within weeks of Dick’s death, instead of canceling her commitment to judge our June 18th rose show (which we surely would have understood under the circumstances), there she was on the morning of June 18th, doing her job as an ARS Horticulture Judge with the best of them. It made all of us so happy to see her there. Roses have always been a part of Fran’s life…going all the way back to the beginning of the Kaelke’s years together.

Fran and Dick Kaelke’s 30-something love affair with roses started at their first marital home where they only had room for 8 bushes…obtained by digging up the grass in the yard. Around 1976-1977, they moved to a bigger place where they joined the ARS and the local rose society and began going to meetings and getting more involved in roses. Soon they had about 100 roses to take care of. Another move in the 80s brought them to a brand new house, and likewise a blank canvas of a yard to “paint” anyway they desired. This home quickly became the home of over 300 gorgeous rose bushes. It was there that Fran and Dick continued to work at their jobs, tend their 300+ roses, and began judging rose shows! Fran said that their workload was overwhelming, as one might imagine. It was at that home where they cut back on some of their roses by putting in a pool, and eventually retired. All the while, though, they kept judging…something they truly loved to do. Two and a half years ago, Fran and Dick moved to Mira Loma to a smaller house where they had only a “mere 90” roses to take care of…that, in addition to other hobbies they enjoyed doing together such as traveling, music, going to the opera, reading and attending art auctions.

Fran still remains active in many of the things she and Dick used to do together, including roses, and now makes her home in San Dimas, California, where she tends nine rose bushes. Please join me in welcoming this lovely lady to our society on the evening of Tuesday, May 2nd.