Florence Kay Franke

Kay Franke, age 80, of Council Grove, Kansas passed away June 14, 2022 at Diversicare of Council Grove.

Kay was born to Eugene and Golda (Clary) Pinske March 19, 1942 in Bayard, Nebraska.  She attended school in Bayard and later took typing and bookkeeping classes in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  She used this schooling to work for three different business owners.  She worked for a time as a carhop, and at her sister Jane and husband’s motel in Cody, Wyoming for a summer.  Prior to being married, Kay lived with her sister Delores and husband, Lewis Buckley and family both in Scottsbluff and McCook, Nebraska.  She was raised with and loved her nieces and nephews.  She then began to do bookwork for Delores and Lewis for their Floor Care Rental business in McCook.  

On Aril 20, 1974 Kay married Thomas Joseph Franke at the Methodist Church in McCook, Nebraska.  To this union they were blessed with two children, Andrea Jo and Heath Thomas.

After the children began school, Kay began working for SRS as a homemaker.  When the state privatized the program, she worked for several private companies in the same position.  She also took on private clients doing housekeeping and homemaking.  For three years, she worked part time for a local A&W restaurant.

Kay volunteered as a Sunday school teacher in the church nursery, an adolescent care home, 4-H community leader and as a Superintendent for Photography at the County Fair.  She enjoyed reading, watching football and was an avid Nebraska Cornhusker fan.  Because of her son’s love for the Denver Broncos, she was able to attend several games in Denver.

Kay was preceded in death by her father Eugene Pinske; mother Golda (Clary) Pinske; sisters Jane Van Noy and Delores Buckley; brother-in-law Lewis Buckley and nephew Richard Buckley.

 She is survived by her husband Tom; children Andrea (Tyson) Powell and Heath (Katie) Franke; grandchildren Dryden Powell, Rylee Powell, Jonathan Franke, Noah Franke and Caleb Franke; brother Richard Pinske; nieces Cathy (Warren) Jones, Janelle (Jeff) Stoller, Tamara Scott; nephews Dave (Debbie) Buckley, Jay (Monica) Buckley, Jack (Carolyn) Couch, Larry (Barbara) Couch, and niece-in-law Charlene Buckley.  

A visitation for family and friends will be held Sunday, June 19, 2022, at the First Congregational UCC from 3:00 to 4:00.  Funeral services will be at 10:30, Monday, June 20^th, also at the Congregational Church.  Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery.  You may watch the service live on the Council Grove First Congregational UCC Facebook page. 

Memorial contributions may be given to Hand in Hand Hospice or Helping Hands Humane Society.

To share a memory or light a candle, please visit www.sawyerchapel.com.