Mary Frances is a lifelong resident of Marietta, Georgia. She earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Georgia. She began her career in advocacy at Families First, where she was the Director of Advocacy from 1984 to 1993. She began consulting as an advocate fulltime in 1993 and ended this work in 2018 to run for office.

Her community service has included serving as a board member and board chair of Women's Policy Group from 2006 until the merger with the YWCA of Greater Atlanta. She is a Sustaining Member of the Junior League of Cobb-Marietta, serving as President from 1991-1992. She is a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church of Marietta.

Mary Frances has received numerous awards for her work, including the Annette Bowling Advocate of the Year Award in 2017 from Easter Seals of Southern Georgia, the Carolyn Wetzel Advocacy Award in 2009 from Health Mothers, Healthy Babies of Georgia, and the Maternal and Child Health Community Service Award in 2004 form the Georgia Public Health Association. She is a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 1993 and the Leadership Cobb Class of 1989.

Mary Frances has two adult sons, Nicholas and Benjamin. Nicholas and his wife, Diane, live in Philadelphia and are the parents of her twin grandchildren, Madison and Cooper.

Benjamin lives in Marietta.