CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Frances Minty Bernier was born on Sept. 29, 1950 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Her parents divorced when she was very young and her father, William “Bill” Minty, brought her up along with his mother, Fran’s grandmother.

Frances was a much loved daughter and she and her father had a very close and loving relationship that lasted until his death in 2006. During her childhood, they were an inseparable pair, jaunting out in the car most weekends to picnic spots around the Northeast of Scotland. Frances was an accomplished Highland Dancer and during the Highland Games season, she – accompanied by her father – would visit and compete in the various Highland Games circuit dance competitions.

It was from her father she inherited her lifelong love of horses and dogs, particularly German Shepherds, as confirmed by the close and loving relationship she developed with the many German Shepherds she owned over the years.

Frances attended Aberdeen College of Commerce and took a course in secretarial studies. She started work in a local insurance company in Aberdeen, but it was in the 1960s and the lure of the “Swinging scene” in London proved too much an attraction for a young, single girl. She enjoyed life there and settled into an independent life with her own flat, learning to drive, buying her first car and acquiring her first German Shepherd.

In the early 1970s, she returned to live with her father in her family home in Aberdeen, much to his delight. The oil industry sector was booming in the 1970s in Aberdeen and Frances went to work as a secretary/PA at Taylor Diving.

In 1976 Fran met and fell in love with Richard A. Bernier, a recent graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, who was working in the North Sea. Later that year he convinced her to come to America. She and Dick were married and built their first home in Greenwood, Maine, USA. While living in Maine, Fran worked for the Bethel Historical Society, Stephens Memorial Hospital, and for several rewarding years as Director of Alumni Relations at Gould Academy in Bethel.

In 2001 she, now “Captain Dick”, and their dogs relocated to Standardsville, Va.. Here they continued an association with the United Schutzhund Clubs of America, an organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the German Shepherd dogs’ working heritage. She worked in Virginia as a ReMax sales associate and passed the time maintaining contact with friends and neighbors from around the world.

Frances still maintained her strong links with Aberdeen and when her father, Bill, became too frail to visit, she would regularly make the trip home to spend time with him and catch up with her friends.

Frances is deeply missed by her friend, Thelma Milne of Aberdeen, who was a lifelong friend. Both considered each other to be sisters in the truest sense. She is also survived by two cousins, Jennifer Buchanan Rodriques of Aurora, Ontario, Canada, and Vivienne Nicol of Roseville, Calif.

Five weeks and one day before her passing she was predeceased by her husband.

Their friends mourn the passing of both. Burial will be in Aberdeen, Scotland. A celebration of lives for Fran and Dick will be held in Maine at a later date.

Donations in her memory may be expressed to your nearest canine refuge.