Saxton, pioneer in UNLV continuing education, dies

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003 | 9:08 a.m.

Services for Frances Saxton, who helped develop and sustain the UNLV Continuing Education Program, will be Sunday at the university.

Saxton, who worked at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from the late 1960s until her retirement in the late 1980s, died Dec. 15 at Nathan Adelson Hospice following a brief illness. She was 85.

A ceremony celebrating her life will begin at 2 p.m. in the Blasko Event Wing of the UNLV Foundation Building.

"Her life mission was to serve others and make their lives better," said longtime friend Pat Leary, a biology professor at Community College of Southern Nevada. "Frances will long be remembered for her warmth, grace and kindness. She left an indelible mark."

Saxton helped found the Natural Science Scholarship Association chapters at both UNLV and CCSN. The UNLV chapter recently began a scholarship program for science students, university spokesman Tom Flagg said.

But Saxton is perhaps best remembered for being instrumental in the development of UNLV's Continuing Education Program, for which she helped establish courses in everything from natural history and languages to anthropology and the arts.

In the 1970s Saxton served as coordinator of women's projects for UNLV's Division of Continuing Education. In that position she traveled to Washington, D.C., in April 1975 to take part in the national conference, "Great Decisions in U.S. Foreign Policy."

She helped start the local Great Decisions program at UNLV in 1967 as part of a small discussion group sponsored by the American Association of University Women and helped develop it into a continuing education program that by 1975 had 80 students studying eight foreign policy topics.

The extended travel programs she helped establish resulted in explorations of the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii and Alaska, where geological, anthropological and botanical studies were conducted, Leary said.

Born Frances Alexander on March 12, 1918, in LaGrande, Ore., she was raised in LaGrande and Philomath, a rural community near Corvallis. She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in home economics and worked for many years for the Bendix Corp.

Saxton came to UNLV when it was still known as Nevada Southern University and over the years took a hands-on approach with her continuing education programs, longtime friend Donna Andress of Searchlight said.

"To assure herself of the content -- and to further her own knowledge -- Frances attended many classes," Andress said. "She provided her personal support for both instructors and students."

Saxton was involved in several philanthropic organizations, supporting such education-based programs as KLVX Channel 10, the local Public Broadcasting Station, as well as National Public Radio and the Utah Shakespearean Festival.

She was a member of, among other civic organizations, the Philanthropic Educational Organization, the Friendship Force foreign exchange goodwill program and the Assistance League of Las Vegas.

Sunrise Cremation and Burial Society handled the arrangements.