William Franklin

1939 - 2022

William Franklin
Jan. 3, 1939 - June 26, 2022
Born January 3, 1939 to Fred and Helen Franklin in Houston, TX, Bill had only an older brother, Al. At the age of 9, he gained notoriety for his artistic abilities. His "City" of modeling-clay trucks, cars, and tanks appeared on the front page of the Houston Chronicle. Clay was not his only medium. A scale-model metal car chassis with working suspension exhibited marvelous attention to detail. Photography was an early passion as well. A darkroom, complete with an enlarger occupied an upper room in his Houston home. Later years included well-regarded paintings in oil and watercolor. The Boy Scouts of America were a very positive influence on the young artist. Bill and other members of Troop 266, including long time friend Robert Oaks, shared many a grand adventure. Bill earned the rank of Eagle Scout, Scouting's highest level of achievement.

Attending Lamar High School, graduating class of '57, he met his helpmate, a blonde beauty named Judy Polinski. Bill and Judy were married 57 years at the time of her passing on Dec. 11, 2017. Bill worked at the Rice library while attending school there. A part time second job in a machine shop helped pay his tuition. Physics was his field. He graduated from Rice in 196-, and thereafter used physicsnerd as his email address. The mysteries of the laws governing all of creation were cleverly deciphered by very complex mathematical equations, which he ended up teaching to many thousands of young men and women. He taught Physics, Astronomy, various Maths, and Science at Westchester H.S., and later at Memorial H.S. The late 60's brought a computer that took up a room by itself to Westchester. Self taught, he programmed this early machine to produce several versions of the tests he gave his students. "It kept them honest" was his explanation. "Physics is Phun" was a play on words students and faculty will remember fondly. Many students also have fond memories of star gazing parties at his home on Meadowland Street (and awe at one of the earliest solar panels that Bill had installed on their roof). Bill was selected as the outstanding HS physics teacher of Texas, and after retirement traveled throughout Texas to show HS physics teachers many effective experiments to use in class.

Summers took Bill, Judy, and son Rick all across this great country. Every National Park and mountain range from the Smokies and Adirondacks to the Sierra Nevadas and Cascades were camped in, enjoyed, and photographed. With a mind set toward furthering his and Judy's educations, and a love of the Pacific Northwest, Bill and Judy both earned their Masters Degrees at Western Washington State University, one summer semester at a time. Their land in Acme, WA was purchased in 1968. After classes and on weekends, Bill designed and, with Judy's help, built from timber cut and milled on the site a two story cabin in the woods there. This piece of land is the place where he met his Maker on June 26, 2022.

Bill's legacy is one of Godly qualities learned early and well honed throughout his life. Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent were his guide. Always the builder and repairer, any home Bill ever visited has something in it that he either built or fixed. Incredibly talented mind. Incredibly creative artist. Incredibly kind and generous. Every single person who knew Bill has their very own, very special memories of the Genius of a man that I call Dad.

A small service will be held in the First Presbyterian Waco Sanctuary at 1100 Austin Ave, Waco on Tuesday, August 2 at 3 p.m.

Published by Waco Tribune-Herald on Jul. 29, 2022.

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