John Louis Franklin III

John Louis Franklin was born on November 15, 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the second of three children born to John Louis Franklin, Jr. and Helen Talbot Franklin. John attended the public schools of Pittsburgh and graduated from Peabody High School in 1948.

Upon graduation from high school, John attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri where he majored in chemistry. While at Lincoln, John joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and was also President of the Student Council. John graduated from Lincoln University in 1952.

John enlisted in the United States Army in 1952 and had the rank of Specialist Second Class. John attended and graduated from Officer Candidate School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma in 1956 with the rank of Second Lieutenant. He served during the Korean War and was stationed at Ft. Myers in the Washington, D.C. area where he served in the Intelligence Corp until his honorable discharge in 1958.

While stationed at Ft. Myers, John met Gwendolyn (Gwen) Harewood who was attending Howard University in Washington, D.C. They dated and were married in 1955. From this union two children; Janet Lee and Stephen Louis were born. John and Gwendolyn later divorced.

In 1969 John married Barbara Adams. He remained married to Barbara until her passing in 1991. There were no children from this marriage.

John enjoyed work, with his main love being chemistry. John worked at the George Washington University (GWU), where he taught and ran the Biochemistry lab for medical students at the George Washington University School of Medicine. He later became the Symposium Center Coordinator for their speaker series and conferences on a wide range of science topics. After nearly 30 years, John retired from the George Washington University. Not being one to just sit, John worked a series of part-time jobs concurrent to his employment at GWU. These jobs included his work as a part-time manager at Posin’s Delicatessen and later as a part-time manager at Safeway supermarkets. When he retired from Safeway, he quickly found that he preferred to be more active which led to his part time lab work at The Institute for Genomics Research and then later as an after-school tutor in math and science at his church’s youth program.

John was an active church member. Raised as a Baptist, he attended Calvary Episcopal Church while married to Gwendolyn. Upon his marriage to Barbara, he joined Randall Memorial United Methodist Church. At Randall, John assumed many leadership roles. Over the course of many years, he served as the Finance Committee Chair, Sunday School Leader, Lay Leader and Administrative Council Chair.

John moved to Los Angeles, California in March 2012, where he joined Holy Faith Episcopal Church and served on the Vestry. Though he missed his friends and relatives back east, he quickly adapted to the warm weather climate and enjoyed traveling around Southern California to historic sites, the beach, and outdoor festivals. After he moved to California, John faced several health challenges. Nevertheless, he displayed a strength and tenacity of spirit through it all. In mid-June 2014, John became critically ill and then transitioned from this life on July 2, 2014.

His smile, wit and wisdom will be greatly missed. He leaves to cherish his memory his daughter Dr. Janet Franklin, son Stephen Franklin, daughter Michelle Franklin, and grandson Stevie T. Franklin. He will also be greatly missed by his brother, Walter Franklin (Lois), first cousins Spurgeon Washington (Joanne) and George “Bumper” Franklin, two nieces Lynn and Paula, several second cousins, godchildren, in addition to a host of friends who shall remember him fondly.