Joseph E. "Joe" Franz

Joseph E. “Joe” Franz, peacefully passed on January 13, 2023. Joe was born July 21, 1942, in Dover, Ohio, to Eugene and Ethel Franz. The oldest of five siblings, Joe was the first in his family line to graduate from college in 1965 from the College of Steubenville (OH). Joe graduated with honors and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity. Joe married his college sweetheart, Gayle Clark in December 1965. They were happily married for 57 years. Joe proudly served in the Army as a first lieutenant and was stationed on the DMZ (Korea) in the mid 1960’s. Joe completed his Army service at the Los Angeles recruiting station and was honorably discharged. He resumed his accounting career at General Telephone of Marion, Ohio and completed his career with GTE/Verizon in Coppell, TX after 40 years. Joe and Gayle raised three sons, Jay, Tim and Chris in Colleyville, TX. During that time, Joe earned his CPA, passing all four parts of the exam on his first try. Joe enjoyed attending his sons’ sporting events, gardening, playing with family dogs, woodworking a/k/a “making sawdust” and golf a/k/a “ball hawking”. Joe took great pleasure volunteering for AARP in tax return preparation for seniors and the indigent. Joe and Gayle loved traveling throughout the United States and Europe. Anyone connected to Joe knew of his enthusiastic incorporation of anything “Snoopy” into his everyday life, from the nickname Joe Cool, his Snoopy apparel and his extensive Snoopy Christmas collection. Joe (Dad/Grogo/Gramps) will be long-remembered and missed for his generosity of spirit, wit, kindness, neighborly love, sharing his homemade Christmas Cookies and homemade Chex mix, and his never-ending line of corny jokes. Upon retirement, Joe and Gayle moved to Edinburg to be closer to their grandchildren. In addition to Gayle and his sons, Joe’s three grandchildren (Ben, Mia and Easton) were the greatest joys of his life. Joe and Gayle were regular parishioners at Our Lady of Sorrows and thoroughly enjoyed being Adoration participants. Joe is survived by his wife Gayle, his three sons, Jay, New Braunfels, Tim (Jennifer) Dallas and Chris (Diana) Edinburg. He is also survived by his four siblings: Joyce (Matt) Gorsich, New Cumberland WV, Bob Franz (Pat Van) Escondido CA, Drew Franz (Denise) St. Louis, MO and Mike Franz (Sally) San Diego, CA. Visitation followed by Rosary will be at Kreidler Funeral Home, 314 N 10th. St, McAllen, TX on January 17, 2023, from 5 PM-8 PM. Mass will be held at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, 900 S 23rd St, McAllen, TX on January 18, 2023, at 11 AM. The interment service will follow at 1 PM at Palm Valley Memorial Gardens, 4607 N Sugar Rd, Pharr, TX. The family wishes to give special thanks to the innumerable family, neighbors and health care providers for their immense support and well wishes. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either the Rio Grande Valley Humanitarian Respite Center (111 S. 15th St. McAllen TX 78501) or Palm Valley Animal Center (pvastx.org)

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Joseph E. "Joe" Franz

January 13, 2023