Obit: Bob Franke (1947-2025)

Subject: Obit: Bob Franke Oct 16 2025
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Oct 25 - 02:01 AM

From Bob Franke's Facebook page

This is Joan Sherman, Bob Franke’s wife. I wanted to let all of you know that on Thursday, Oct 16, at 6:25 pm, Bob Franke left this earth, leaving it just a little bit darker. On Monday, while crossing the street in his new home of Antigua, Guatemala, Bob was hit by a speeding motorcyclist. He was taken by ambulance to a major hospital in Guatemala City. There he was operated on successfully for a broken pelvis. However, as he was recuperating in the ICU, he suffered a heart attack. The doctors worked tirelessly to revive him, but on Thursday, he suffered a second heart attack that took his life. Before his surgery, he said if anything were to happen, he wanted me to write you on Facebook this email. He wanted you all to know that he loved his life, and he loved that you shared it with him. Hearing how his words touched your lives gave him meaning and purpose. He wrote his songs to heal himself, but he was gladdened to hear that they healed so many of you as well. He loved everyone in his Facebook audience and was glad to share his life with you. God bless you, Bob. I will love you for the rest of my life.

Bob and his songs meant so much to many of us. May he rest in peace.

Subject: RE: Obit: Bob Franke (1947-2025)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 25 - 01:51 PM

Dan Schatz posted remarks on his Facebook page:

I am deeply shocked and saddened by the terrible news that Bob Franke died yesterday evening, after being struck by a motorcycle near his new home in Guatemala. So many of Bob's songs have become classics - a few days ago "The Great Storm Is Over" was my earworm; now it's "Thanksgiving Eve."

This Fall, Bob and his wife Joan sold their home in Massachusetts and retired to Antigua, Guatemala. Yesterday, while crossing the street, he was hit by a speeding motorcyclist. Following surgery to repair his pelvis, Bob suffered two heart attacks. He died yesterday evening.

I had met Bob a few times but didn't know him well. I knew Joan a little better, and I'm devastated for her loss, as well as the loss to all of us of a deep talent and a profoundly good human being. The words of his songs - so many of which were soaked in a deep and abiding love - will be resonating with me for a long time to come.

"There are sorrows enough for the whole world's end
There are no guarantees but the grave
But the lives that we live and the time that we spend
Are a treasure too precious to save.

What can you do with your days
But work and hope,
Let your dreams bind your work to your play.
What can you do with each moment of your life
But love 'till you've loved it away?
Love 'till you've loved it away."

I can't think of a more fitting epitaph.

Subject: RE: Obit: Bob Franke (1947-2025)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 25 - 01:55 PM

Also from Reggie Harris (a public shared post so should open).

Subject: RE: Obit: Bob Franke (1947-2025)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Oct 25 - 08:54 PM

Dan has posted the song I'll be singing next Monday at our monthly music swap in Portland, ME. I and a friend from Michigan did add one additional verse:

Each moment will pass like winter into spring,
Quickly enough on its own
But a memory's made in the weaving of a day,
So let not a thread slip the loom.

Charlie Ipcar

Subject: RE: Obit: Bob Franke (1947-2025)
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Oct 25 - 11:13 AM

Bob Franke was a much loved writer of folk songs and an expert exponent of the art of songwriting. His songs, you could say, are becoming traditional in that many people sing them and have no idea who wrote them. They just love the words and the way they make them feel. Many of his songs make a profound affect on people and sometimes make you reassess your ideas in the light of them. I am sending my condolences to his family and friends and all those who know and love him. RIP Bob.