Frances Weiss Zelenko, age 99, of St. Clare Newport, Newport, RI and formerly of Brooklyn and Queens, NY, Long Island, NY and Mystic, CT, passed away on October 2, 2017.

Born in Brooklyn, NY on October 13, 1917, Frances was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Poland — Abraham Weiss and Dora (Givner) Weiss. Frances was a smart woman, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her mother, Dora, died when Frances was 16 and she left high school to earn money during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. She initially worked in the factory of garment industries but quickly moved to their offices. She eventually became a key-punch operator. Later in life, she earned her GED and a became a COBOL computer programmer. She was employed by Grumman Aircraft, Bethpage, NY and was part of their Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) and Y2K teams. Frances was an avid reader. In retirement, Frances explored her artistic side, creating beautiful paintings and needlepoint. She embraced technology. In her later years, when her eyesight failed, she listened to many audio books provided by the National Library Service for the Blind through the Rhode Island Talking Books program.

In addition to her parents, Frances was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 57 years, Gustave Zelenko and her two brothers, Samuel Weiss and Jacob (Jack) Weiss. She is survived by her daughters, Delia Klingbeil and her husband Ralph, and Miriam Skertich; three granddaughters, Jennifer Klingbeil Borhegyi and her husband George, Abigail Klingbeil and her husband David Zipkin, and Zondra Skertich and her husband James Hebrlee; and four great-grandchildren, Benjamin and Daniel Borhegyi, and Julia and Ethan Zipkin.

In lieu of flowers, donations, in her memory, can be made to RI Talking Books, Office of Library and Information Services, One Capitol Hill, Providence, RI 02908-5803.

The family wishes to thank the excellent staff of St. Clare Newport for their dedicated care of Frances in her last years and to thank Rabbi Marc Mandel of Touro Synagogue for his frequent visits and conversations with Frances.

For online condolences and shared memories go to www.sansonefuneralhome.com

 Service Information