John Franzman Jr.
b. July 3, 1902, d. Feb. 15, 1972
John Franzman Jr. was born on July 3, 1902, in Valley Township near Grygla, Minnesota. He was the fourth of five children born to Johann Franzmann and Katharine (Schick) Franzmann.
Young Newlyweds
On June 9th, 1926, John married Mabel Theressa Johnson, a local school teacher. (Much later, when John and Mabel went to get a copy of their marriage license, they found much to their surprise that the bride was listed as Mabel's sister Muriel!)
John worked as a lumberjack, and their early years were spent in Gheen, MN near what is now Voyager’s State Park. John and Mabel moved in with John’s parents in Grygla, where both Adeline (1928) and Luverne Alice Franzman (1930) were born.
References
Becker, MN 1942-1952
In 1942 the John & Mabel and the four kids moved to a larger home in Becker MN. Grandpa Lars N. Johnson joined them here. They intended to farm here, but couldn't get the hang of working the sandy soil. John turned to silo-building, bringing son Euguene along to erect silos on farms in Minnesota. Eventually, John took a job in the Twin Cities. He drove south and stayed with their friends the Garfields during the week and returned to Becker on the weekends.
References
Crystal, Brooklyn Park MN 1953-1967
In about 1952, John and Mabel moved to a small house located on 35th Avenue in Crystal. Behind the house was a dense lilac hedge, and behind that was Noble Drugstore. John still worked at SuperValu and remained there until he retired. I remember the back yard lined with lilac bushes, and behind that a large drug store. When Lloyd and Luverne travelled to Las Vegas for a mini-vacation (1964-ish?), they left the kids with John and Mabel. We brought our backyard swimming pool and set it up their back yard to keep us occupied.
In 1961, John and Mabel moved to 8109 Noid Dr. in Brooklyn Park.
Mabel suffered a stroke in 1967. She came home and partially recovered. However, she suffered a second stroke shortly after returning home which proved fatal. She was 61 years old
References
In June of 1969, John Franzman married Evelyn Stahlnecker, a former teacher friend of Mabel's. Evelyn lived in Estacada Oregon, and they settled there together.
On February 15, 1972 John suffered a heart attack and passed away. He had just returned from a visit to family in Minnesota. He was 69 years old. Services were held in both Estacada Oregon and in Grygla, MN.