Duane L. Franklet | Passages
Published 11:30 am Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Duane L. Franklet Sr., 86, passed away on Aug. 15, 2016 following complications from a fall in his garden. Duane was born in 1929 in the Panama Canal Zone. His father George was stationed at the Canal, and his mother Louise Grunenfelder was a schoolteacher there. His childhood was spent in Panama and then in Bradenton, Flo. After serving in the Korean War, he attended Georgia Tech where he received a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Duane’s career was spent working as a Manager for Shell Oil Company, living in Seabrook, Texas; New Jersey; Manchester, England; and then for many years in Houston, Texas.
Duane met his wife Beverly Bixler Franklet while studying at Georgia Tech. We hear he wore a leather jacket and managed to be both dapper and carry a sliderule. Though no fan of its cervine population, Duane loved Puget Sound, moving to Orcas Island 24 years ago. Standing on the deck of their house, Duane would look out over East Sound and say, “This is my favorite house that I’ve ever lived in!”
Beverly and Duane celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at the Orcas Hotel last fall. Duane enjoyed jazz, chess, playing games and joking around. He continued to engage in scientific inquiry throughout his life. Even the theory of relativity required examination. He took pleasure in natural beauty, and made several voyages up the inland passage to visit his brother George and family in Juneau, Alaska.
He is survived by his wife Beverly, three children, and two grandchildren: Nancy Franklet (Randy Williams), Sharon Franklet, and Duane Franklet (Barbara) and their two sons Dean and Andrew. He is also survived by sisters Margaret White, Adela Hill, and brothers and sisters-in-law Judy Franklet, Rod and Carole Bixler, Barrie and Fred Eldridge, and Jason and Suzie Bixler, as well as many nieces and nephews, and friends. Duane was preceded in death by his brother George Franklet Jr. of Juneau, Alaska.
A memorial get-together and celebration of his life will be held in the Lundeen Room of the Orcas Senior Center at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Duane may be made to the senior center, PO Box 1653, Eastsound, WA 98245, or the charity of your choice.
He went out to the garden to pick peaches
and never came home again
So many baby tomatoes starting to grow
A cucumber vine stretching to wrap one green tendril
tight on a nail, a twig, a neighbor
Melons, potatoes, all those wild things
that spring up from the compost surprise!
Now deer will eat the lot
He went out to the garden to pick peaches
Who would have seen it coming? No one
Every year you till the soil
plant your seeds
and hope.
