Frances Nora Zemlyak of Pelham Manor, New York, passed away on Saturday, Aug. 25. She was 91 years old.

Born in Manhattan, New York, to Mortimer Harrington and Hanora Burke, Frances was one of two children. Frances was raised in Manhattan, where she attended Julia Richmond High School. Upon graduation, she worked at George A. Fuller Constuction Co. as an executive assistant. She married John J. Zemlyak on Oct. 10, 1953, and would live on 86th Street in Manhattan before moving to the Bronx, where they would raise their three children. Frances worked many different jobs while raising her three children. She spent the majority of her career working for General Tire International Corp. before eventually retiring from Einstein Hospital in the Bronx at the age of 86.

Frances would later move to Pelham Manor, New York, in 2002. In her spare time, she loved to write and study history; she was an avid reader. She knew it was never too late to learn and decided to take English courses at Lehman College in her 70s, and she took Spanish at the College of New Rochelle in her 80th year. She enjoyed spending time cooking, spending summers in The Rockaways and traveling to Europe, especially her homeland in Ireland.

She will be remembered as a kind, generous and genuine lady, always taking the highroad, hardworking and graceful. She will be missed by everyone who knew her.

Frances is survived by her three children, Mary Patricia Ricci (Joseph), Nancy Zemlyak and John Zemlyak. She is also survived by her three grandchildren, Monica and Christina Ricci and Christine Felter, and her great-grandson Devin Felter. Frances is predeceased by her husband John J. Zemlyak, and her sister Dorothy E. Wettherall.

A celebration of Frances’s life will take place at the Pelham Funeral Home, located at 64 Lincoln Ave., Pelham, New York, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, from 4 to 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church 575 Fowler Ave., Pelham Manor, New York, on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Yonkers, New York. For more information or to leave a condolence, please visit www.pelhamfuneral.com