William Francis Franck

William(ˈwilyəm) Francis(ˈfransəs) Franck(fräNGk)

William Francis Franck, 97, died peacefully on Wednesday, March(märCH) 18, 2015, in his home at Kings Grant Retirement Community Martinsville(ˈmärtn), Va. He was a generous friend, passionate(ˈpaSH(ə)nət) community builder, active church(CHərCH) leader, and always a loving father and husband. He birthed(bərTH) many visions(ˈviZHən) leaving(lēv) legacies(ˈlegəsē) of great love.

He was born on July 29, 1917, in Fayetteville(-vəl,ˈfāətˌvil), N.C., son of William F. Franck Sr. and Martha Lawhon Franck.

He was preceded(prəˈsēd) in death by his sister, Margaret(ˈmärɡ(ə)rət) F. Credle.

Surviving are his wife of 73 years, Carolyn Pannill Franck; four children, Martha F. Rollins, William F. Franck III, Ann F. Gordon, and John M. Franck; 11 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

He attended(əˈtend) public school in Durham(ˈdo͝or-,ˈdərəm), N.C., and received a BS at Duke(d(y)o͞ok) in 1939. In 1940, he moved to Martinsville with DuPont and in 1941 married Carolyn Pannill. From 1943 to 1946, he served in the United States Army(ˈärmē) as Lieutenant(lo͞oˈtenənt) charged with moving supplies to Patton’s troops(tro͞op). In 1946, he worked at Pannill Knitting(ˈnitiNG) and in 1950 he was hired(hīr) as VP of Sale Knitting. In 1953 he became president of Sale. In 1983 the company restructured into Tultex Corporation.

When he retired(rəˈtī(ə)rd) in 1992 the company had grown from 160 to 6500 employees(emˈploi-ē,ˌemploiˈē) in 27 locations. He served as the first president of Martinsville Chamber(ˈCHāmbər) of Commerce(ˈkämərs), president of Kiwanis(kəˈwänəs) Club, chairman(ˈCHe(ə)rmən) of the fund drive for building Memorial(məˈmôrēəl) Hospital, president of the Virginia(vərˈjinyə) Manufacturing(ˌmanyəˈfakCHər) Association(-SHē-,əˌsōsēˈāSHən). He was a principal founder and first president of Chatmoss Country Club. He was very active on the Martinsville Mayor’s(ˈmāər) Commission(kəˈmiSHən) of Human Values and sought to model racial(ˈrāSHəl) reconciliation(ˌrekənˌsilēˈāSHən). He was a member and past Elder and Trustee(trəˈstē) of First Presbyterian(ˌpres-,ˌprezbəˈtirēən) Church in Martinsville, and a principal founder and resident(ˈrez(ə)dənt,ˈrezəˌdent) of Kings Grant Retirement(rəˈtī(ə)rmənt) Community. He enjoyed life and was a benefit to many along the way.

https://www.roanoke.com/obituaries/franck-william-francis/article_0c5ad05a-3159-5dbb-95e7-530fa1af3429.html