Memorial service on Saturday for ‘Kerm’ Franks, 1918-2015

A memorial service is planned in West Seattle on Saturday for Dean Kermit “Kerm” Franks, 97. Here’s the remembrance his family is sharing:

Dean Kermit “Kerm” Franks, a longtime West Seattle resident and retired vice principal of West Seattle High School, died of natural causes October 16 in West Seattle, supported by his extended family. He was 97, and had been a resident of The Kenney retirement community since 2005.

He was born January 23, 1918 in Coldwater, Kansas, the third of four children born to Willard and Tulu Franks. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1940.

He met his future wife, Esther Faye Anderson, while teaching high school in Eudora, Kansas. They were married in February 1942, ten days before he was drafted into the Army. His service was in Alaska, and when the war ended the couple decided to settle in Seattle. They started a family and Kerm began a 30-year career with Seattle Public Schools. He earned his Masters and Doctor of Education degrees from the University of Washington. He took early retirement in 1975.

From 1961 to 1975, Kerm and Faye co-managed the Seabeck Conference Center on Hood Canal. They are remembered fondly as “Uncle Kerm” and “Auntie Faye” by the many former staff members, who were high-school and college youth at the time. For more than 25 years beginning in 1963, Kerm and Faye hosted a series of exchange students from Europe, Asia and Central America. They also traveled to a number of countries, visiting the families of their student guests.

The couple built a cabin at Lake Cushman, near Hoodsport, Washington, in 1976. They spent summers there, encouraging visits from family and friends. Kerm was physically active until near the end of his life, enjoying hiking, berry picking, swimming, square dancing and handyman projects. He was still chopping wood at the cabin into his 90s.

Kerm was an active member of Tibbetts United Methodist Church in West Seattle, where he served in volunteer administrative positions.
Faye died in 2012, after 70 years of marriage. His son, David, died in 2013. He is survived by daughters Marsha (Mike) and Candace (John); son Dean (Cynthia); 7 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; 4 nephews and 3 nieces.

A memorial service to celebrate his long life will be held next Saturday (October 24th) at 10 a.m. at Tibbetts United Methodist Church, 3940 41st Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116. Memorials may be sent to Tibbetts Church, or to Seabeck Conference Center, 13395 Lagoon Drive NW, Seabeck, WA 98380.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)

4 Replies to "Memorial service on Saturday for 'Kerm' Franks, 1918-2015"

  • Alan October 20, 2015 (11:52 am)

    “Uncle Kerm” was such a nice man. I worked for him during the summers of 1972 and 1973 at Seabeck. While we staffers likely posed a challenge to him at times, I don’t recall him ever being unkind. He seemed to notice only the good that people did and overlooked their faults.

  • Cait October 20, 2015 (11:54 pm)

    It will be so strange not seeing Kerm around The Kenney – he was always so kind and personable. Thinking of the Franks family during this time.

  • Christine October 21, 2015 (6:40 am)

    Kermit and Faye will be forever in our hearts at Tibbetts. I was honored to be in and have them in our church family.

  • Ann Martin October 21, 2015 (3:09 pm)

    Adding just a note to this warm story of Kerm and Faye, I will always remember both of them giving their time to overseeing the Tibbetts polling place before we went to all mail in balloting. They were generous with their time and were always available to help the elections run smoothly.

    When I first began finding people to cover polls in West Seattle, they could probably have run things in their sleep they had been doing it so long. Both are missed!

    I am so very thankful for their service among all the other things they did for the community.

Sorry, comment time is over.