Gertrude M. Franck

Gertrude May Franck of Lansing,
Passed away on October 22, 2022 at the age of 104. She was born in Copemish, MI on April 8, 1918, the daughter of Dock and Frances (Burlingame) Adams. Gertrude grew up on a farm near Copemish, and was born during the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. Woodrow Wilson was President then, and gas was sixteen cents a gallon. Her grandparents walked from Pennsylvania to live in Michigan in 1886.
Gertrude was proud that she graduated high school because you had to pay to go to high school back then, and many kids were not able to do this. Her father worked an extra job cutting wood to pay for her schooling. She also had to walk four miles to school every day.
Once, Gertrude was asked how it was like to live through the Great Depression, and her remark was "the family barely knew it was going on as they were already so poor that it made no difference to them". She tells stories of her and her 7 brothers and sisters eating sandwiches of browned flour and lard.
Gertrude met her husband of 62 years at a skating rink, where they were on a blind date - but not with each other! They met again when he offered her a flower as she walked home from work one day. For most of her life Gertrude was a homemaker and babysat children. She chopped her own wood and made her own maple syrup from trees she tapped in the yard until she was 97 years old.
As far as the secret to her longevity, it is hard to tell. She never worried about exercise or diets; ate lots of meat and butter, always ate desert, and drank coffee from early childhood. Gertrude spent her last years in assisted living, where she loved to play cards and bingo. She had many friends, both staff and residents.
Gertrude is survived by her 3 sons, Howard (Linny) Franck, Gary (Peggy) Franck, and Paul (Susan) Franck; Sister Evelyn Foland; 10 grandchildren; and 22 great grandchildren. She is preceded into death by her husband, Alfred Franck; 2 sisters; and 4 brothers.
A Funeral Service will be held 11:00 a.m. Friday, November 4, 2022 at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 7910 W. St. Joseph Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917 with visitation one hour prior to the service; inurnment to be at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in loving memory of Gertrude Franck to Our Savior Lutheran Church Memorial Fund. Arrangements were entrusted to the Mills Funeral Home, Peters & Murray Chapel in Grand Ledge. Online condolences may be shared at millsfuneral.com