Alfred (Al) W. Franz was born on July 12, 1927, to Peter and Mary Franz of Corn, OK. Al was the twelfth of 12 children born to the couple, and notably the first to be delivered in a hospital, giving his mother his first gift: a week's stay in the Weatherford Hospital, which she often referred to as "the best vacation I ever had."
Al grew up on the family farm constantly coming up with new ideas to improve the agricultural effort and productivity. After graduation from Corn Academy High School, he attended Grace Bible College in Omaha, NE, where he met the love of his life and soon-to-be wife, Orla Ann Fast. They were married in 1949, and in 1950 their first son was born. By August of 1954, they were abundantly blessed with five sons.
Being resourceful, Al successfully went about building his first home in Wichita, KS. By 1959, Al and Ann had moved to Boulder, CO, where he began a long career as a union electrician and general contractor. Al built numerous custom homes in and around the Boulder area, many finished with his trademark dry-stack rock retainer walls with landscaping and gardens, reflecting a lifelong passion for creating beauty.
For real passion and beauty, one had to take a closer look at Al’s life, as his guiding light and hope were found in a personal relationship with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Wherever he roamed later in life in his RV journeys, he searched out a church faithful to the Holy Scriptures and served others in word and deed—through mission projects in far-away countries or gleaning the edges of farm fields in his local community—to help supply food banks and pantries.
It is this same faith that kept Al taking small but faithful steps as an "unfinished project" in reflecting the ever growing and developing image of his creator God and Savior, Jesus Christ, until on Sept. 23, 2020, in the tenth morning hour after receiving care from a kind hospice worker, he thanked her with "I feel brand new." Moments later, he passed through the veil into the presence of the One who makes all things new for an eternity with Him.
Al is survived by four sons, A. Wayne Franz (Judy) of Lafayette, CO; Warren D. Franz (Claire) of Longmont, CO; William J. Franz (Christine) of Buena Vista, CO; and Daniel P. Franz (Ginger) of Rapid City, SD. Al is also survived by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Orla Ann, and his son, David H. Franz.
*All obituaries are submitted by family and friends of the deceased.
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