Strathmore's Roundtable Biography for
Frances Utterback Crain

	Frances Utterback Crain
Biography	Born on December 28, 1914 to Chelsy Chalmers Utterback and Margaret Myrtle Henderson Utterback. She received her B.A. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Illinois in 1935. She served a dietetic internship at Indianapolis City Hospital (now Marion County General Hospital) in 1935 to 1936. Her first position after completing her internship was with a mineral metabolism research project at the University of Illinois under the supervision of Dr. Julia P. Outhouse from 1936 to 1937. She returned to Indianapolis City Hospital as Therapeutic Dietitian in 1937 to 1938. On September 13, 1937 she married James W. Crain, a medical student at Indiana University Medical School. In 1939 she took a position as Therapeutic Dietitian at Home Lawn Mineral Springs in Martinsville, Indiana. For an interim period in 1940 she served as dietitian of a WPA project at the Illinois Soldiers & Sailors Children's Home in Normal, Illinois. Then following her husband who was serving an internship at Providence Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. This was followed by serving as Chief Dietitian at Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri 1941. During the following two years two sons were born, James Michael and Patrick Desmond. From 1943 to 1945 she worked at the Illinois Dept. of Public Welfare in the section that was responsible for the food service in all of the State Welfare institutions. In June, 1945 she and Dr. Crain were divorced. As part of the divorce agreement, she enrolled in graduate school at Purdue University to work toward a Master's degree, however before she accomplished that she was offered a position as Executive Director of the Memphis Dairy Council in Memphis, Tennessee. She served in this capacity from 1947 to 1961. Concurrently from 1952 to 1961 she wrote the weekly food feature article for the Commercial Appeal under the pen name Sara Kaye. In 1961 she took a position as Program Consultant with the National Dairy Council and held that position from 1961 to 1968. Her parents had moved to Memphis with her to help raise the two boys. During the period she worked with the National Dairy Council in Chicago, her father died. By 1968, because of family matters, it became expedient for her to return to Memphis. Her first position was with the War on Poverty Committee helping get the feeding part of the Head Start program operating. In 1969 she took a position with Shelby County half time as Dietitian for the Penal Farm (now Correctional Center) and half time with the Shelby County Hospital (no longer in operation.) In 1972, she shifted to full-time at the Shelby County Hospital but was kept in a consultant capacity at the Penal Farm, a position she continued until her retirement in 1980 even though in 1974 she transferred from Shelby County Hospital to Oakville Hospital where she was working when she retired. Mrs. Crain was active in civic and professional organizations.
Industry	Healthcare/nutrition consulting
Title	Dietitian
Expertise	Nutrition/dietetics
Current Organization	Frances U. Crain, Dietary Consultant
Type of Organization	Consulting
Major Product	Dietary/nutrition consulting
Area of Distribution	Tennessee
University/Degree	B.A., Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Illinois, 1935
Born	December 28, 1914, Crawfordsville, Indiana
Honors & Awards	Career Woman of the Year, 1955; Tennessee Outstanding Dietitian, 1977; Certificate of Appreciation, Salvation Army for her work with their feeding programs at the Family Shelter and Child Care Center, 1983; Frances Crain Book Fund established by the Memphis Area Nutrition Council and Memphis District Dietetic Association, 2003; City Council passed a resolution renaming Avalon Street North of Poplar Frances Utterback Crain Street, 2007
Published Works	Book, "Of Weeds and Views" Oak Tree Press, 2000; "To Your Taste, Butter, 1958" written for and published by the National Dairy Council; Weekly food feature articles, Memphis Tennessee Commercial Appeal, 1952-1961
Affiliations	President, Memphis District Dietetic Association, 1949-50; President, Tennessee Dietetic Association, 1951-52; President, Memphis Chapter of the Quota Club International, 1954-55; District Governor, Quota Club International, 1957-58; Bulletin Editor, Chicago Dietetic Association, 1966-68; President, Memphis Area Nutrition Council, 1973-74; Member of speakers and PATH committees, Memphis in May International Festival, 1983-86; President, Shelby County Retirees Organization, 1987-89; Computer Assistant Volunteer, Main Library, 2003-05
Hobbies & Sports	Writer, Scrabble, computers, reading
Work History	Dietetic Internship, 1935-36 and Therapeutic Dietitian, 1937-38, Indianapolis City Hospital; Therapeutic Dietitian, Home Lawn Mineral Springs, 1939; Dietitian of a WPA project at the Illinois Soldiers & Sailors Children's Home, 1940; Chief Dietitian, Providence Hospital followed by serving as Chief Dietitian, Alexian Brothers Hospital, 1941; Illinois Dept. of Public Welfare, 1943-45; Executive Director, Memphis Dairy Council, 1947-61; Wrote the weekly food feature article for the Commercial Appeal under the pen name Sara Kaye, 1952-61; Program Consultant, National Dairy Council, 1961-68; War on Poverty Committee, 1968; Part-Time Dietitian, Shelby County Correctional Center and Shelby County Hospital to present
Children	James Michael, Patrick Desmond
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