Frace sisters’ lives celebrated by community
—The Atascadero Bible Church room was filled to capacity as over 900 friends, family, and community members gathered to celebrate the lives of Brynn and Brittni Frace, who passed away due to a car accident last week. Attendees were encouraged to wear bright, colorful clothing and to put a flower in their hair, as the sisters loved to gather flowers when running and put them in their hair.
“They unleashed joy like nobody’s business,” said their uncle Ryan, who gave the first remembrance. He wore a shirt of a backwards chicken, and encouraged those wearing the shirt to look in a mirror at the design, which represented having perspective. Brittni was fond of chickens, and a picture was shown of her holding a chick with a delighted expression.
Atascadero High School track coach Roger Warnes considered the girls to be his granddaughters, as he had kept in constant contact with them about their training regime at Chico State. Over this winter, he and the girls went to Arizona for the “Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon and Half-Marathon”, where he described the misadventures in finding a gas station and a heartwarming story about seeing the girls eat a raw bell pepper in the backseat, leading to many laughs on the trip.
“[They] were so very happy about their lives,” said Warnes. Brynn was a civil engineering major who wanted to combine her knowledge with sustainable agriculture. Brittni was an exercise physiology major, and wanted to become a cross country coach at the collegiate level.
As best friends of the sisters and roommates remembered their favorite memories, all spoke about the lessons the Frace sisters had taught them: to not be afraid of being one of a kind, to remember life is precious, and that ‘the grind don’t stop’. They loved the Harry Potter series and being outdoors to connect with nature. Farmer’s markets were one of their favorite destinations, and their typical Saturday involved going for a long run together, heading to the market to sample the goods several times, and then relaxing at a nearby cafe. They would also surprise their roommates at 5:30 in the morning with a happy “Hiya!” as the girls studied away. They had excellent academics, and Brynn would even take calculus for fun, as parents Shari and Warren Frace recalled.
A slideshow was shown, with homevideos of the girls jumping off cliffs into crystal blue waters below them and doing their signature dance. This dance, comprised of jumping around and waving their arms, represented their joyful personality, where roommates Nora and Elyssa recounted running intervals on Humboldt Hill and the girls encouraging a dancing session during rest breaks to make the exercise more fun. As Brittni’s friend Evan remembered this special dance, he invited the community to stand and join him in dancing.
Both girls were phenomenal athletes: Brittni broke many school records set 20 years prior and became part of the All County and All League teams, and Brynn started running for soccer training, and soon found a passion for distance running. Both were active members of the Chico State cross country and track teams, with Brittni being a teammate and Brynn planning to join.
To honor Brynn and Brittni’s memory and to continue spreading their love and positivity, the Frace parents have set up a GoFundMe page to start two programs: a Memorial Athletic Scholarship and one to donate athletic shoes so all athletes have the opportunity to follow their passion. The page has raised over $27,000 of their $40,000 goal.
As Shari Frace said, “They never dwelled on the negative…they thrived for the positive.”
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