Class of 1946

1946 Maroon SpotlightRodney Franklin
Rodney Franklin

1946 Graduation Edition
Perry Daily Journal

– 18, son of G. W. Franklin of 409 Ivanhoe street, was born April 27, 1928, in Sparks, Oklahoma. Before transferring to Perry high school he attended grade school at Red Rock.

Following graduation this spring he will go to work for a railroad signal department, a job he hopes to continue unless interrupted by entering service.

Rodney Reeve Franklin

April 27, 1928 – June 15, 1988

Rodney R. Franklin, 60, Topeka, Kansas, died Wednesday, June 15, 1988, at a Topeka hospital.

Born at Sparks, Okla., on April 27, 1928, he was the son of Gerald Wilford and Goldie Clifton Franklin. After attending grade school at Rock Rock, Okla., he graduated from Perry high school in 1946 in absencia. He was called for military duty before commencement. During the Korean conflict, he served in the U. S. Navy.

On June 16, 1950, he was married to Geraldine Francis “Jerry” Shepherd in Pensacola, Florida. They were blessed with a son. She died in 1971. He later married Joy Ruth Morris in March 1972. She survives.

Before moving to Topeka, Kansas, in 1970, he was a signal maintainer for 23 years with the Santa Fe Railway at Willow Springs, Ill. Arriving in Topeka, he continued his railway career for another 18 years.

He was a member of Robert Heizer Post No. 198 of the American Legion at Osage City, Kansas, and former secretary-treasurer of Local No. 33 of the Signalmen’s Union.

In addition to his wife, Joy, survivors include: five daughters, Brenda Maker, Shelly Owen and Kyle McDaniel, all of Edmond, Okla., Marquetta Childs, Colorado Springs, and Susan Bailey, Wichita; a son, Ross Franklin, Bethany, Okla,; and his mother, Goldie Franklin, Kelseyville, Calif.

Also surviving are five sisters, Wanda Odom and Pauline Jackson, both of Kelseyville, Calif., JoAnn Freeman, Edmond, Okla., Katherine Kitchel, Ponca City, Okla., and Rose Silva, Livermore, Calif.; five brothers, Gerald Franklin, Nauvoo, Bud Franklin and Clifton “Blick” Franklin, both of Kelseyville, Calif., Kerm Franklin, Vacaville, Calif., and John Franklin, So-brante, Calif.; 18 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

Services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Newcomer-Diffenderfer Funeral Home, Topeka, Kansas. Later services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in Waterloo Church of the Nazarene at Edmond, Okla. Burial will be in Waterloo Cemetery at Waterloo, Okla. Memorial contributions may be made to Topeka Rescue Mission, 605 N. Kansas Ave., 66608.