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Services
A Memorial Service will take place at Preakness Reformed Church, 131 Church Lane, Wayne, on Wednesday, August 19, 2015, beginning at 11:00 AM.
Agnes Franklin passed away at her home in Packanack Lake on August 11, 2015, surrounded by her loving family.
Agnes was born to Walter and Leontine Wirtman on July 26, 1927. She grew up in New Dorp, Staten Island and graduated with the class of 1944 from New Dorp High School. She attended business school in NYC and worked as an executive secretary at US Industrial Chemical in Manhattan.
Agnes met her husband to be, F. Ross Franklin, Jr. on the beach in Pt. Pleasant, NJ and they were married on October 27, 1951 in the New Dorp Moravian Church. They honeymooned in Lake Placid, NY at the Mirror Lake Inn where they also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their children in 2001.
In 1961, Agnes and Ross followed her parents and moved from Staten Island to Packanack Lake to the home they built and have resided in ever since. The family spent many summer days at the East Beach. She had a lifelong love of swimming that continued into her eighties and was a founding member of the Packanack Synchronettes and the Montclair Ripples.
The family loved the Jersey shore and spent many vacations in Harvey Cedars on LBI. A tradition Agnes and Ross continued with Beth and Dennis and their family for many years. After Ross retired they also enjoyed traveling to Bermuda, around the USA and Europe.
Agnes enjoyed watching professional tennis matches and had a love for reading mysteries and historical fiction novels. She also loved to sew, knit, crochet and quilt and made beautiful clothes, Halloween costumes, prayer shawls, baby caps and blankets for her family and friends. She loved animals and there were always dogs, cats and once even a pet raccoon.
Agnes was an active parishioner of the Preakness Reformed Church where she was involved with the Brown Bags & Bibles group. She loved to bake and cook delicious meals and published several Potluck Cookbooks with the Women’s Guild of Packanack Community Church in the 1970s.
Agnes’s parents emigrated from Estonia through Ellis Island and she was very proud of her heritage. She and her mother traveled back by boat when she was five years old and stayed for a year. In 1990 she and her daughter, Erika returned to Estonia and were united with relatives they had never met, attended the Estonian Song Festival and visited the birthplaces of her parents. She often said that it was one of the best experiences of her lifetime.
Most of all, Agnes will be remembered as a loving and caring daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, neighbor and friend. She was someone who was always ready to lend a hand and put the needs of others before her own.
She is survived by Ross, her husband of 64 years; children, Kris Pierce, Erika Binns, Beth McConnell and son-in-law, Dennis McConnell; grandchildren, Mercedes and EJ Binns, Ross Pierce, and Greyson and Waverly McConnell.
In lieu of Flowers, donations in Agnes’s memory may be made to: Preakness Reformed Church, 131 Church Lane, Wayne, NJ 07470, or The Seeing Eye, P.O. Box 375, Morristown, NJ 07963-0375 or Packanack Community Church, 120 Lake Drive East, Wayne, NJ 07470.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
A Memorial Service will take place at Preakness Reformed Church, 131 Church Lane, Wayne, on Wednesday, August 19, 2015, beginning at 11:00 AM.
Services
A Memorial Service will take place at Preakness Reformed Church, 131 Church Lane, Wayne, on Wednesday, August 19, 2015, beginning at 11:00 AM.
Agnes Franklin passed away at her home in Packanack Lake on August 11, 2015, surrounded by her loving family.
Agnes was born to Walter and Leontine Wirtman on July 26, 1927. She grew up in New Dorp, Staten Island and graduated with the class of 1944 from New Dorp High School. She attended business school in NYC and worked as an executive secretary at US Industrial Chemical in Manhattan.
Agnes met her husband to be, F. Ross Franklin, Jr. on the beach in Pt. Pleasant, NJ and they were married on October 27, 1951 in the New Dorp Moravian Church. They honeymooned in Lake Placid, NY at the Mirror Lake Inn where they also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their children in 2001.
In 1961, Agnes and Ross followed her parents and moved from Staten Island to Packanack Lake to the home they built and have resided in ever since. The family spent many summer days at the East Beach. She had a lifelong love of swimming that continued into her eighties and was a founding member of the Packanack Synchronettes and the Montclair Ripples.
The family loved the Jersey shore and spent many vacations in Harvey Cedars on LBI. A tradition Agnes and Ross continued with Beth and Dennis and their family for many years. After Ross retired they also enjoyed traveling to Bermuda, around the USA and Europe.
Agnes enjoyed watching professional tennis matches and had a love for reading mysteries and historical fiction novels. She also loved to sew, knit, crochet and quilt and made beautiful clothes, Halloween costumes, prayer shawls, baby caps and blankets for her family and friends. She loved animals and there were always dogs, cats and once even a pet raccoon.
Agnes was an active parishioner of the Preakness Reformed Church where she was involved with the Brown Bags & Bibles group. She loved to bake and cook delicious meals and published several Potluck Cookbooks with the Women’s Guild of Packanack Community Church in the 1970s.
Agnes’s parents emigrated from Estonia through Ellis Island and she was very proud of her heritage. She and her mother traveled back by boat when she was five years old and stayed for a year. In 1990 she and her daughter, Erika returned to Estonia and were united with relatives they had never met, attended the Estonian Song Festival and visited the birthplaces of her parents. She often said that it was one of the best experiences of her lifetime.
Most of all, Agnes will be remembered as a loving and caring daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, neighbor and friend. She was someone who was always ready to lend a hand and put the needs of others before her own.
She is survived by Ross, her husband of 64 years; children, Kris Pierce, Erika Binns, Beth McConnell and son-in-law, Dennis McConnell; grandchildren, Mercedes and EJ Binns, Ross Pierce, and Greyson and Waverly McConnell.
In lieu of Flowers, donations in Agnes’s memory may be made to: Preakness Reformed Church, 131 Church Lane, Wayne, NJ 07470, or The Seeing Eye, P.O. Box 375, Morristown, NJ 07963-0375 or Packanack Community Church, 120 Lake Drive East, Wayne, NJ 07470.
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