May 6, 1941 - November 24, 2019
"I remember growing up- middle of winter, roads closed, far below freezing temps, 3:30-4:00 am and Dad going off to work! Dad NEVER missed a day of work! With a broken ankle, cast on, sick as a dog (extremely rare), he NEVER missed a day of work while we were growing up. He was an incredible provider, and we NEVER went without ANYTHING! There were times I was up in the morning, as a little girl, and remember thinking he is the strongest dad on Earth! And NOTHING could stop him from going to work!!!" says daughter Carol Franklin reminiscing about her father, Blake Winston Franklin. Her brother Tony recalls running machines in the bush for his dad since he was about 12 years old. Following in his father's cat tracks, Tony is still a hard-working logger. Mark, the youngest of the three, said, "My father was a strong, hard working, intelligent man. That is something I always respected about him."
I was holding his hand at the time my beloved husband of 30 years slipped away from us all on Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 8:45 am. He was 78 years old.
Blake Winston Franklin was born in Kelowna, BC May 6, 1941. After his father's death due to a logging accident, 6-year-old "Winston" rode by himself on a train to his aunt and uncle's farm in Stone, Saskatchewan. The spartan lifestyle and rural upbringing he encountered there instilled in him the values and work ethics that made him the tough and gentle man that he was. Farmers
back then would often pull the boys out of school to help with the crops. They had to work and work hard. Blake's uncle was among some of the last to farm with horses.
As a younger teenager he spent two summers in Nelson, BC with Gordon and Lillian Sargent at their home on the North Shore and would return to school in Stone in the fall. He left Stone to live with his older brother and wife, Dufferin and Flora Ann, in Camrose, Alberta. He then moved with them to Nelson, BC where he attended L.V. Rogers Secondary School and worked various jobs in the summer.
In November of 1961 he married Sharon Webster of Revelstoke, BC. His adult working life consisted of being a banker in Banff and Revelstoke, becoming a logger, starting a logging company, Franklin Contracting, being president of the local union, competing in Logger Sports Days, acquiring shares in Mt. MacKenzie Ski Hill where he built a beautiful home and purchasing the Big Mouth Logging Camp, run by his second wife, Aggie Koop. After retirement, he and Aggie moved to a small acreage in the Kootenays where Aggie still resides in a lovely home he built for her, which he built out of the existing workshop.
He is survived by his common law wife Aggie Koop of Krestova, BC daughter Carol Diane Franklin of Vancouver, BC son Blake Anthony "Tony" Franklin (Penny Dewart), of Golden, BC, son Mark Stanley Franklin of Revelstoke, BC and his two sisters Marthella Johnson and Joan Pogue, both of Toronto, Ontario. Also, many nieces, nephews and cousins throughout the country and beyond are feeling the pain of their loss. He was predeceased by his sister Alice McClenaghan of Surrey, BC, who passed in October of 2018, brother Dufferin who passed on September 12, 2019, and Dufferin's wife, Flora Ann, who passed in May 2018.
I would like to thank his doctors, nurses and the staff at Kootenay Lake and Kelowna Hospitals for the care and comfort they gave us both during his stay.
Blake, you were larger than life, strong as steel (on occasion as immovable as a stump), and possessed a heart of pure gold. You loved your family dearly, and we all love you. You left us with big holes in our hearts that we can try to fill with fond memories and good times we shared.
There will never be another you.
THE FLIGHT by Aggie Koop
Whisked away like a butterfly in the wind, through a window I watched you fly,
But I don't even know if you saw me watching you say goodbye.
Thompson Funeral Service Ltd.