Annie “Ann” Laura Franz passed away Wednesday, July 19, 2017 surrounded by family at the Sidney Health Center in Sidney, MT following a few short stays due to deteriorating health.
Ann was born April 11, 1933 in Enterprise, AL, the Boll Weevil Monument Town, to Ira L. and Annie “Dovie” (Horsley) Adkins. Her grandfather Adkins farm was in the center of what during WWII became and is still Fort Rucker in Alabama. Annie’s family lived and worked in cotton mills and lived in cotton mill villages in south eastern Alabama until moving to Ft. Mead, FL in 1944 when she was 11 years old. There she finished grade school and high school. Her graduating class of 1952 became a very close-knit class from then on and she returned home to Florida to attend several of the reunions.
In 1955 Ann, on a blind date, met a recently discharged White Hat from the US Navy originally from Sidney, MT, Ray Franz. The two were married on St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, 1956, in the Church of God in Ft. Mead, FL.
Later that year they moved to Sidney, MT where Ray worked on the family farm as well as construction. They returned to Florida in 1957, to work in phosphate mining and construction. When the recession ended the work there in 1958, they returned once again to Sidney, MT, where they purchased the family farm and began a lifetime of farming and ranching. On March 17th of this year they celebrated 61 years of wedded “bliss”.
Together they raised 3 boys and 2 girls. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were her heart and soul.
Ann is survived by: her husband, Ray; her children, Patricia A. (Steve) Bright, Sidney, MT, Jon A. Franz, Sidney, MT, Janice Sue (Jerry) Klempel, Lambert, MT, David A. (Liz) Franz, Wibaux, MT, Kenneth L. (Lynn) Franz, Lewistown, MT; her grandchildren, Jeremy Klempel, Jason Klempel, Joseph Klempel, Shana (Franz) Brophy, JaNae (Klempel) Sansaver, Julie (Franz) Walz, Melissa (Franz) Kostelecky, Brittany Bright, James Franz, Laura Franz, Annie Franz, Michaela Bright, Hannah Franz; and 17 great-grandchildren with 3 more to arrive before the summer ends.
Ann is preceded in death by: an infant brother; her mother and father; her mother and father-in-law, Fred and Ethel Franz; her sister, Geraldine “Jerry” (Adkins) Coleman; great-granddaughter, Sienna Rogers; brothers, James Adkins and Homer Adkins; her “special sister” (sister-in-law), JoAnn Franz; and sister-in-law Leona (Franz) Gibson.