Franken, Henry [Henry E.], 1899-1995

FRANKEN, SCHOEP, DYKSHORN

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/27/2010 at 06:11:15

The Rev. Henry Franken, November 18, 1899-December 6, 1995

The Rev. Henry Franken, 96, died on Wednesday, December 6. Funeral services were at Second Reformed Church in Pella on Saturday, December 9, the Rev. Henry Vermeer officiating and assisted by the Rev. Barbara Wright and the Rev. William Paul. Eulogies were given by Franken's grandchildren.

There was a committal service at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Sioux Center on Monday, December 11, officiated by the Rev. Joel Bensema.

Franken was born near Sioux Center on November 18, 1899. He was one of five children born to Evert and Louise (Schoep) Franken. He was baptized and made profession of faith at Middleburg Reformed Church at Middleburg. He attended country school at Middleburg and was graduated from Northwestern Academy in Orange City in 1924. He attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, from 1925 to 1926, and then enrolled at Central College in Pella, graduating with the Class of 1928. He then attended Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, graduating with a divinity degree in 1930. While at seminary, he and Harriet Johanna Dykshorn were married on August 8, 1929. They had five children: Darrell, Marilyn, David, Robert, and Carol.

Franken spent 35 years in the ministry of the Reformed Church of America. Congregations served were Eddyville Reformed Church in Eddyville, Fairview Reformed Church in Fairview, South Dakota, and Aurora Center Reformed Church in Aurora Center, South Dakota. While serving there, Franken took a leave of absence to be a chaplain in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. He served in California and the Philippines where he ministered to Dutch and Indonesian prisoners. Following his discharge, the Frankens returned to Aurora Center Reformed Church and then served Garden Home Reformed Church in Denver, Colorado, Winnipeg Reformed Church in Winnipeg, Canada, and Abbotsford Reformed Church in Abbotsford, Canada. Following his retirement, he and Harriet served as managers of Kirkside Retirement Center in Roxbury, New York, from 1964 through 1966.

The Frankens retired in Pella in 1967, but Henry remained active in many church and civic organizations. He served as minister of calling for Second Reformed Church for more than 20 years, belonging to the Kiwanis and the senior citizens in Pella and was the organization's first president.

Survivors are his wife, Harriet; four children and their spouses, the Rev. Darrell and Marilyn Franken of Holland, Michigan, Marilyn and Gil De Roos of Des Moines, Dr. Robert E. and Helen Franken of Calgary, Canada, Carol and Sumner Mapes of Pella and daughter-in-law Karen (wife of the late David) Franken of Glen Ellyn, Illinois; 12 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters and two brothers, Ella Niessink, Gerrit E. and Arthur Franken and Johanna Punt; his son, David; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

The following poem about him was written by Norm Schouten:
He was a gentle man,
slowly sculpted by the wind
and the barren landscape
of the Dakota plains.
He was formed of the earth,
he grew in the earth,
and thought he would make his livelihood
out of the same earth.
But the God who had made him,
and gently molded him,
quietly called him,
and he left the land he loved
to be a farmer in another vineyard,
God's vineyard.
He loved the place from which he had sprung
and yet God called him to placed far removed,
the Philippines,
California,
Colorado,
New York,
and he ministered to soldiers,
as well as ordinary people,
he ministered to city dwellers
as well as farmers,
he ministered to young
and to old.
He was a giving man,
he gave of himself
wherever God called him.
Sometimes, perhaps,
he gave more of himself than he ought,
for he sacrificed the needs of his
children for the needs of others.
Sometimes the demands of the church
were only demands of people,
not the call of God.
But who always hears correctly?
We live imperfectly
trying to be faithful.
And he was.
He was faithful in many things,
and because he was,
he has heard the master's voice say,
"Well done,
good and faithful servant.
You have been faithful
over a little.
I will make you ruler over much."

Source: Sioux Center News, December 19, 1995.
His wife's obituary (SCN, Dec. 17, 1996) gives his full name as Henry E. Franken.