For Fran Wargolet, hiking Yosemite isn’t just about reaching the summit. It’s about helping families around the world rebuild after disaster.
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Remarkably spry 80-year-old Fran Wargolet is doubling down. She will again ascend the mountains in Yosemite National Park with her daughter Katrina, now 52, and granddaughter Sophie, now 16, to raise awareness and money for ShelterBox USA.
The trio completed a similar journey three summers ago. Beginning Aug. 7, they’ll hike an estimated 28 miles, rising to 7,210 feet in elevation over four days with Yosemite landmarks Half Dome, El Capitan, Tuolumne Meadows and waterfalls in view. They’ll again share a durable ShelterBox tent, built to official United Nations specifications and distributed after disasters throughout the world.
“It’s wonderful that they even want to be with me. I know so many families that are so dysfunctional, they would never do that,” said Fran. “We share our love for nature. We share the ability to get out and move, hike and see beautiful places. We do this at different stages of our lives.”
Fran explains that she walks four to five miles a day to maintain fitness, weight, endurance, and overall health. Fran walks 2½ miles to Holy Cross Church every Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, except when it’s too snowy or icy.
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing,” Fran quipped.
The Rotarian says she decided to hike Yosemite again because her granddaughter Sophie wanted to, and they all support ShelterBox, which provides vital supplies after disaster, from durable tents to cookware sets to repair kits and solar lights that can charge phones.
“Each family can have their own shelter,” Fran explains. “And they can have privacy, and they can rebuild their family unit. Other aid organizations are great, but they don’t supply shelter; they don’t seem to get into places as fast as we can. Rotary got me interested. They sent me to ShelterBox when Putin hit Ukraine.”
A member of the Kenosha Rotary Club since 2007, Fran has spent years serving her community through projects ranging from literacy programs and Meals on Wheels to Rotary’s global effort to eradicate polio. Today, she is also a ShelterBox Ambassador, sharing the organization’s mission through presentations across the Upper Midwest after completing ambassador training in Texas.
Fran’s passion and energy astound her daughter.
“At 80 years old, she continues to inspire me with her mental strength, tenacity and willingness to embrace challenges,” Katrina said. “She leads by example, reminding us that age doesn’t define what we’re capable of. It simply changes the journey.”
Fran is the youngest of 11 children, with three of her siblings still living: Ruth, 89, in North Carolina; Michael, 87, in Milwaukee; and Judy, 85, in Ohio.
The Fran family seemed to shake the procreation dice and roll an 11 twice.
Her father, Edward Bogumill, was also one of 11 children and grew up in Thorp, Wisconsin. Fran says Edward married Clarissa, essentially an only child. A tragedy in Thorp shaped Fran’s drive to shelter people after disaster. Fran recalled the family lived above an opera house and bar when they became instantly homeless.
“Before I was born, they lost their house to a fire,” Fran noted. “They had the support they needed to rebuild. Thorp is a small town; close relatives and friends helped right away. They would have never rebuilt so fast, in a place where you see the devastation and everything is gone, attacked, like in Ukraine. The people there could not get the close-by help needed to rebuild immediately.”
That sensitivity to people who’ve lost everything in disaster pushes Fran to test the limits of endurance even more. She more than tuned up for Yosemite by conquering the mountains of Peru in May, including reaching Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, which is reported to be the same elevation as Everest Base Camp. She revealed altitude sickness is no issue for her.
Sophie offers four words to describe her grandmother: “invested, joy, funky, jolly.”
Whether she’s hiking Yosemite or inspiring others through ShelterBox and Rotary, Fran hopes her journey encourages more people to give back.
Funky Fran wants others to follow their family adventure.
“I would encourage anyone reading this to support ShelterBox,” she said. “Help the people in Venezuela, and all the other countries where we (ShelterBox USA) are responding after disasters.”
