Longtime Helena resident Richard (Dick) Franz, 77, died on July 13, 2021.
He was born December 30, 1943, in San Antonio, TX, to Richard and Margarete Franz. He grew up there, leaving to study at St. Mary’s University and later joining the Army. While stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he met Vivian Donegon; they were married a short time later. After a year in Vietnam, the two of them spent a year in Germany before returning to Colorado, where their son Bryan was born in 1970. They made their way in 1971 to Helena, where Dick found work as an accountant working for the state government and Viv took a job as a nurse at St. Peter’s. Their second son, Garrett, was born there in 1972.
In 1981 he took a job at Carroll College, working in the business office. He eventually became Vice President of Business Affairs, a job he enjoyed but stepped down from so he could spend more time with Viv, who struggled with MS. His last years at Carroll College were as Director of the Office of Financial Aid; he retired in 2003.
He continued his military service through the Army Reserves until 1996, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Dick loved photography, golfing with his friends, and fishing anywhere. He never lost his deep love for his home state of Texas. After Viv died in 2009, he would spend a month or more at a time in Rockport, taking walks and fishing from the pier.
He is preceded in death by his parents and Viv (2009), and survived by his sister Jackie St. Clair (Coppell, TX), his son Bryan (Novato, CA), his other son Koun (Garrett), Koun’s wife Tracy, and their kids, Cormac and Norah (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
The funeral mass will be held on Friday, July 23, at 10am at Carroll College’s All Saints Chapel, to be followed by a graveside service and a reception on campus.