Frances “Fran” Smith of Ulysses was elected to serve the 5,200 Lions Club members in Kansas as Council Chairperson (CC) and leader of the State Council of Governors for the current Club Year.
CC Fran served as 17-K District Governor in 2015-16 for the largest Kansas district which covers the western 60% of Kansas and includes 70 clubs and nearly 1,800 Lion members.
Lion Fran retired after 32 years in public education, teaching English, Speech, Journalism and Photography in Texas, Nebraska and Kansas. She has been honored on three occasions as a Who’s Who Among Educators, nominated by her students. She has also received numerous 1st Place Awards for Lions Club Newsletter production and Public Relations work.
The current State Council of Governors are: the Rev. Kerry Hookstra of Downs (17-K); Linda Leander of Assaria (17-A); and Marge Zakoura-Vaughan of Wichita (17-N). The Council of Governors meets four times each year as the top Governing Body in Kansas Lions.
Lion Fran is a native of Austin, Texas but became a Kansan when she married Denny 50 years ago, in 1966. They have three adult children and one adult grandchild.