Katherine Russell Franklin

10/9/1925 – 11/24/2023

Katherine (“Kathy”), peacefully passed away on November 24, 2023, at the age of 98 in Seattle, Washington. Kathy was born on October 9, 1925, to Peyton Rose Russell and Katherine Field Rice Russell, in Houghton, Michigan. She had an older brother Peyton. Kathy’s mother died when Kathy was 9 and her father married twice more, gaining Kathy six half-brothers, with whom she was always close.

She attended schools in Houghton, Shaker Heights, Ohio (Laurel School), and Kenosha, Wisconsin (Kemper Hall) and graduated from Crafton High School in Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her B.A. in History from Hollins College in Roanoke, VA. At the age of 52, she earned her A.A. in Paralegal Studies from Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, CO and worked for a time for Johns-Manville Co.

Kathy met her husband Jesse Owen Franklin III at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when they were taking summer classes. They were married in Kenosha on December 31, 1948. Jess worked for E. I. Dupont and, over the next six years, Jess and Kathy moved five times and had four children, two boys and two girls. They finally settled in Littleton, Colorado where they spent the most years bringing up their family. Jess passed in 1988, and Kathy moved to Seattle in 1997. Until 2021, Kathy lived in the Stendall Place neighborhood in North Seattle. She was living at the Ida Culver House in Broadview when she passed away.

Kathy was loving, spunky, smart, talented and adventurous. She “never met a stranger” and would start up conversations with anyone – at the grocery store, at church, on the ski lift, at sporting events – and soon, she would know everything about this new friend!

Kathy loved school. She especially loved her one year at Kemper Hall and her four years at Hollins. She and Jess made sure that all their children graduated college.

Kathy was also athletic. She claims she learned to swim when her father threw her into Lake Superior as a toddler. She played golf and tennis, bowled and was especially proud of her field hockey career at Hollins. She took up skiing at age 47 and loved it.

Kathy was a lifelong Episcopalian who loved to read about, study and discuss religion. She read constantly and always kept up with current events and politics and loved watching professional golf and tennis.

While raising four children, Kathy also was President of the League of Women Voters and the PTA. She was a girl scout leader and a volunteer for many organizations. She sewed, knitted, crocheted, and quilted. She was active in church organizations, notably the “Dorcas” group of women who made layettes, clothes and quilts for needy babies. These women were her best friends in Littleton.

Kathy and Jess loved to travel. They took their four children on a two-week trip each year, traveling in a different direction each time. Wherever they went, Kathy insisted they read every historical sign on the highways, eat different foods from all over the world and attend every lecture in whichever national park they were visiting. She and Jess kept in touch and traveled with his bomber group from his service in WWII. They enjoyed traveling to see their son Jesse’s University of Washington rowing team compete.

When Kathy moved to Seattle, she joined the volunteers at Northwest Hospital. She prided herself on making sure “the doctors talked to the family” before leaving the hospital for the day! She could be very persistent and had no fear!

When Kathy’s health started to become a concern, her oldest son Bruce moved in with her and selflessly took care of her for many years before he himself succumbed to cancer in 2022. Kathy and Bruce were well-known in the Stendall Place neighborhood, particularly during covid time, when they would sit out front of their garage and chat with everyone who walked by.

Kathy was predeceased by her parents; her beloved husband Jess and their son Bruce Gardner Franklin; Jess’ sister Lillian Franklin; her brother Peyton Russell; and half-brothers Hugh Russell and Mike Russell. She is survived by her three children - Nancy Franklin Guinn (Bill), Katie Rice Franklin, and Jesse Owen Franklin IV (Katie), her grand-children Jesse O. Franklin V and Elizabeth Franklin, her half-brothers John Russell, Ned Russell, Steve Russell and Bob Russell, her brother-in-law Sid Franklin and many nieces and nephews.

Kathy was a loving wife and mother, grandmother, sister and daughter and will be dearly missed.

The family wishes to thank the Ida Culver staff for their excellent and compassionate care of Kathy.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 22, 2023, at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church at 722 N. 145th St. in Shoreline, WA. Memorials in Kathy’s name may be made to St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church Feeding Program (sdchp.org).