Richard E. Franks Jr.

05/04/1943 - 02/25/2011

Richard E. Franks Jr., 67, of Acme, died Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, in Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital, Greensburg. He was born May 4, 1943, a son of the late Richard E. Sr. and Anna Lyne (Scott) Franks. Mr. Franks was a graduate of Connellsville High School and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He was a retired lieutenant colonel of the Army serving in the Vietnam War. Mr. Franks was the retired owner and president of Graft Oil Company of Connellsville. Among his affiliations, Mr. Franks was a member and past president of the Connellsville Rotary Club, where he was a Paul Harris Fellow, member and past president of the Connellsville Chamber of Commerce and a member of Paradise United Methodist Church. He is survived by his wife, Christine (Johnson) Franks; four children, Edward "Ned" Franks and his wife, Theresa, of Bullskin Township, Laura B. "Lori" Franks, of Baltimore, Md., Melissa "Missy" Leapline and her husband, Bruce, of South Connellsville, and Melinda "Mindy" Barnhart and her husband, Cecil, of South Connellsville; nine grandchildren, Mason, Colin, Zachary and Larissa Franks, Kassidy and Kawlija Leapline, Alicia Franks and Blaine and Olivia Barnhart; and two brothers, William "Bill" Franks and his wife, Kathy, of Midlothian, Va., and James Franks and his wife, Sherry, of Acme; and his mother-in-law, Evelyn M. Balsley. Friends will be received from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday in the BROOKS FUNERAL HOME INC., 111 E. Green St., Connellsville, where services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday with the Rev. Charles Prevot officiating. Interment will follow in Green Ridge Memorial Park, Pennsville. Military rites will be conducted by the Connellsville American Legion and VFW and Trotter American Legion Honor Guard. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions are suggested to Paradise United Methodist Church or to Calvary Assembly of God Church. To sign the guest registry please visit www.brooksfuneralhomes.com.