Rev. Frances Jane Cobb Peel

Rev. Frances Jane Cobb Peel was received joyfully into heaven on February 7, 2025 in Nags Head, NC surrounded by love and her family. She was born on April 27, 1938 in Oklahoma City, OK to the late Francis Norton Cobb and Leona Jane Enders. During her youth, she developed a talent for ballet and dance. She was chosen to be a classical and contemporary dancer with the Oklahoma City Ballet Company and performed in local television productions.

She continued to teach dance and choreography at Wellesley College where she received her bachelor’s degree in Biblical History. She went on to earn her first master’s degree in Christian Education from Union Theological Seminary in New York City where she met her husband of 63 years, the Rev. Craig Lindley Peel. Together they worked in East Harlem during the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s and she developed a passion for social justice that inspired the rest of her life. Later, when her children were grown, she returned to New York Theological Seminary and was awarded her Master of Divinity. She became adjunct faculty focusing her teaching and research on the role of women in the Bible. She was among the earliest women ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament into the Presbyterian Church USA in 1989. Throughout her life, Fran had many vocations as she raised her family. She worked tirelessly in each community in which she lived to enhance the lives of others. She taught special education in Simsbury, CT and Windham, NH and was active in the resettlement of refugees displaced by the Cambodian civil war in the 1970s. She managed a program for challenged adults in Worcester, MA. She worked as a guardian ad litem in the Dare County, NC court system to advocate for children. Fran served two churches in Massachusetts before receiving her call to the Nashua Presbyterian Church in NH. She pastored that growing congregation for five years and one of her proudest accomplishments was the growth of that parish and the construction of its first building. She loved to travel, and among the highlights of her life were a trip to the Holy Land, several visits to Medjugorje and Croatia, and a trip to South Africa leading to the establishment of a lasting church partnership between a South African Presbyterian Congregation and the church she served in Nashua, NH. She retired to the Outer Banks in 2000 to help raise her grandchildren. She continued to volunteer in the community and on the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church’s prayer team, flower ministry, and worship team. In her “spare” time, Fran was an artisan. Proximity to the ocean led her to early morning walks on the beach to find sea glass, which she crafted into beautiful jewelry. A talented artist, she found joy in painting with watercolors and acrylics, often capturing the beauty of birds in her work, a testament to her gentle and creative spirit.

Above all, she was devoted to her four children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She never missed an opportunity to support them at school plays, concerts, and sporting events. We loved more, lived more, and hoped more because “Nana” was in our lives. Some of her parting words to her family were that Jesus has called us to do better in this world, to take care of those in need, to think less of ourselves and more of others.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church in Kill Devil Hills on March 1st at 1 pm. There will be a fellowship gathering following the service to celebrate her remarkable life and legacy. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Dare County Arts Council (darearts.org) or OBX Room in the Inn (obxroominitheinn.org) in accordance with her wishes.