Carol Jean Franklin

Carol Jean Franklin passed from this earth on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at the age of 81, following many years of medical challenges. She was an intelligent and caring daughter, wife, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend who will be deeply missed.

Born in St. Louis in October 31, 1941 to Terry and Juanita (Mosier) Hames, her father enlisted in the then Army Air Corps on her first birthday. Terry remained in the Air Force for 20 years and Carol grew up in many different states and countries, including Japan, Morocco and Libya. She eventually attended eight different schools before her senior year at Highland Park High School in Topeka. It was there that she met Edgar Eugene Franklin and in 1960 became his loving partner and wife for 63 years.

Moving to Auburn from Topeka in 1972 with three young children Carol and Ed fully renovated a stone farm house built in 1867. While Ed held a full-time job that required traveling the state, the pair also farmed, raised pigs, planted Christmas trees and at various times adopted a goose, a raccoon, exotic chickens, miniature horses, two large horses, many dogs, cats and a goat.

Carol became an expert seamstress and tailor, a bookkeeper for the State and for the family's F & H trucking business, a psychiatric aide, Sunday school teacher at Central Church of Christ, Scout leader, a Senator's secretary and an office manager for Topeka ENT.

She was also elected and served 12 years on the Auburn-Washburn School Board making a point of carefully researching every decision. During that period of growth the board worked on each school building in the district and built Auburn Elementary School.

She was also the rare woman who could sew up a bleeding piglet with black thread and still get the kids to church on time. While she had many accomplishments, she shared that she was most proud of her three children, Dave, Mike and Cheryl and their loving children.

Her surviving loved ones are husband, Edgar Franklin; sons, David (Cathy) Franklin and Michael (Katy) Franklin; daughter, Cheryl Franklin; granddaughters, Meggie (Elliott), Sarah (Blake), Mary Kate (Alec), Claire and Zoe; grandsons, Adam (Alarie), Matt (Elizabeth), Jimmy, Griffin, Jack and Luke; great-grandchildren, Rose, Theo and Nell; and her sister Betty (John) Winkworth.

Carol's funeral service will be held at Penwell Gabel Funeral Home, 1321 SW 10th Ave., Topeka, Kansas 66604 on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 12:00pm. Her family will greet relatives and friends one hour prior to the service. Interment will follow after the service at Auburn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or Tall Grass Christian Camp, Harveyville.

Carol's service will be livestreamed at the scheduled service time. Click Here to view the service.

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