George Franklin

George Davis Franklin, Sr., 79, of Amarillo died Tuesday, June 28, 2016 in Plano, Texas. Services were held Friday, July 8, 2016 at Jenkins Chapel Baptist Church with the Reverend Warren Coble of Love Fellowship COGIC, officiating, and the Reverend Edgar J. Cofer of New Birth Bible Fellowship, as Eulogist. The Wake was held Thursday, July 7, 2016 at Warford Walker Chapel. Services were provided by Warford-Walker Mortuary.

George Davis Franklin, Sr., was born in Dougherty Texas on 27 February 1937 to Floyd and Arlissa Franklin. As a teen he ran track, played basketball, baseball, football, played slide trombone, and boxed. He graduated from Carver High School and became a ranch hand and horse trainer for trail rides at Palo Duro Canyon. He personally trained an Appaloosa mentioned in the hall of fame, “Double-Five Domino,” as a highly competitive cutting horse. George also trained horses for school teachers and friends around Amarillo.

He played basketball for Amarillo College, during segregation, shattering the “color line” and personally donated the “Badger” displayed as mascot for years in the campus window. As a life guard at “North Heights Park and a football coach with Kids Incorporated, he mentored and taught, more than a thousand youth through his work in Amarillo, resultant in championships at numerous “Toy Bowls” and city playoffs in a life of coaching.

George later trained as an electrician, worked for Sears Roebuck and Company, and used business skillsets to open his own janitorial and handyman service. He was an avid amateur bowler, a baseball shortstop for civic teams in his 30ish years, and a member of a show stopping basketball team in the style of the globe trotters of Harlem! In 1975-1976 He managed a local band, “Soul Vibrations,” and signed them to STAX records before STAX had administration problems resulting in the company’s insolvency. A motorcyclist until his health prevented his riding, George took bike trips with friends and family whenever time allowed. He also loved fishing all water types and excelled in wood carving.

He went on to become a supervisor for the Texas State Center for Human Development in Amarillo. There his artistic skills, and care for others flourished, and he personally devised and hand crafted foam inserts to aid children with muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, or prosthetics to sit comfortably erect in wheel chairs.

George Franklin championed the Special Olympics immediately after Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver nationalized it, and she personally welcomed him. For his first airplane ride, he took the Texans, a team of seven, to the first Special Olympics National Games in Chicago on 20 July 1968. In 1996 he took his Texans to the International Special Olympics in Raleigh Durham, NC, and his team brought home the “Silver.” George was awarded the “Tom Landry Trophy” for coaching in 1996 and another trophy, “The George Franklin Award”, was instituted at the “Amarillo State Center for Human Development”.

Nearing the end of more than thirty-eight years as a coach and physical education supervisor, George carved sets of miniature wooden statues unique in design and intrinsic value. One of these he presented to Miss Oprah Winfrey as a peace offering shortly after her court proceedings in Amarillo. George always sought a smile, and was a longstanding member of Jenkins Chapel Baptist Church.

George Franklin was married three times. He married Maedean Minor, and Erma Jean Pugh, (both preceding him to heaven), and later Mrs. Ruella Thompson. He is survived by three brothers; Floyd Franklin, Jr., 84 of Dallas, Texas, James Vell McGhee, 82 of Amarillo, and Jason Todd Henry (Maria) of Amarillo. He also has five sons; Aaron (Brenda), Michael (Frances), Romah (Constance), George Jr. (Tonya), and Carleton (Priscilla). He is survived by 21 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. He leaves numerous nieces, nephews, and countless extended family members.