Frances "Fran" (Larkin) Candlen

Frances “Fran” (Larkin) Candlen, 87, of Needham, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 surrounded by her loving family.

Fran was born on January 4, 1938, in Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up at 10 Parsons Street in Brighton, surrounded by her larger-than-life Irish family, who affectionately called her “Poppy” because her eyes were like the center of a poppy flower. Poppy always spoke fondly of growing up in the yellow Victorian home with her brothers, mother, grandmother, and close-in-age aunts and uncle. She had a childhood filled with love and many role models who helped shape her into the kind and smart woman she became.

Fran was a lifelong learner. After attending Brighton public schools, she enrolled in the State College of Boston, where she majored in History and English. After graduating, Fran put her big heart to use as a social worker at a nursing home and would later return to school to get her master’s in education, which was her true calling.

Fran always greatly valued friendship and made new friends in every community she joined. While in college, Fran met some of her best friends. She and the girls would get together and host “Club” for decades to come. She was also very close to many of her fellow teachers.

During the summer of 1960, while on vacation down the Cape with friends, she met the great love of her life, Joe Candlen. They met in July, got engaged in September, and married in February. They went on to spend fifty loving years together.

Fran’s greatest joy was her family. She and Joe raised their three children in Needham, where she also was a beloved elementary school teacher. Summers were spent barbecuing with the neighbors or in the pop-up camper on Cape Cod, while winters were spent at the theater or cozied up with a good book. Their home was always full of family, decorations, and sweets at the holidays.

For her grandchildren, a sleepover at Grammie’s always meant baking cookies, playing a few rounds of competitive board games, and watching a good film or having a favorite book read aloud. She inspired a love of reading in many of her grandchildren, encouraged them to find joy in every day, and always took a great interest in their passions. She made them all feel special and loved.

Fran was a lighthearted, intelligent, and compassionate woman, with a great sense of humor. She excelled at crossword puzzles and Jeopardy, had a deep love of the arts, reading, and baking, and was adored by all who knew her. She will be so missed.

Fran has now been reunited with Joe, who she has missed for 14 long years, and many other predeceased loved ones. Carrying on her memory are her three children: Lynne Dimond and her husband David, Joanne Candlen and her fiancé Bobby Quillard, and TJ Candlen and his wife Chrissy. She will be remembered as the Best Grammie Ever by her grandchildren (and great grandchild): Dani, Spencer, his wife Laura and their daughter Lily, and Sydnie Dimond; RJ, Brianna, and Michael Tocci; and Eric, Jill, and Kerry Candlen.

Please join us for Fran’s Celebration of Life on March 8, in the Eaton Funeral Home, 1351 Highland Ave, Needham, beginning with visitation from 10-11am and concluding with a service at 11am. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Bubba Strong Charitable Fund at bubbastrong.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Frances "Fran" (Larkin) Candlen, please visit our floral store.