William Dennis Franklin

William Dennis Franklin, affectionately known as Bill, was born to William Arthur and Gertrude Marie (Lewis) Franklin in Aberdeen, WA on December 22, 1944. He was the third of three children having two sisters. His father died when he was just six weeks old but his dad’s best friend, Edgar Johnson, slowly began to woo his mom for three years until Gertrude finally gave in and they were married. Bill became very close to Edgar.

The family moved to Bremerton when Bill was two years old. He attended Star of The Sea Catholic School through the eighth grade when he transferred to West Bremerton HS.

Immediately after high school, he began his dream job of driving trucks. He started with dump trucks, then moved on to semi-trucks delivering lumber. First, he drove back and forth to both Washington and
Oregon, but decided he needed a change, so he switched to driving all over Western Washington only while still hauling lumber.

He took a trip to Donna’s parents’ house intending to go have some fun with her brother. As fate would have it, he also accidentally saw Donna for the first time, and he liked what he saw. Soon afterward he made plans to go on a date with her and the rest is history. They were married at Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in Bremerton on July 27, 1967. They recently celebrated 56 years of marriage.

In 1980, Bill cleared out a pasture on the property in Olalla and they began their family farm. They raised White Faced Herefords and had 13 of them. Export was the huge bull that ruled the realm. They even sired him out to a few folks. They had two goats, but Harry was the lawn mower that that kept the perimeters cleared in the pasture.

He loved to go hunting with his hunting buddy, taking trips to Montana for that. He also enjoyed going fishing, even loving to hate to take Donna with him, because somehow, she managed to catch more fish. They also enjoyed taking trips in the RV to many places. The favorite place was the exclusive Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas, NV which had a bunch of amenities making for a very enjoyable trip every time they went.

On August 6th, just several days ago, Bill died at home surrounded by loved ones. The last things he said to Donna just prior to passing away was, “You took good care of me.” He was preceded in death by his parents and his eldest sister, Wanda. Bill is survived by his loving wife Donna; son Kevin; sister Betty, and many extended family members.