The Very Reverend Gus Lee Franklin III, S.S.C., died May 3, 2020, after a long and courageous battle with lung cancer. Fr. Franklin was born on January 28, 1938, in Bellevue, Kentucky, the eldest son of Ruth and Gus Franklin II. 

Fr. Franklin graduated from Bellevue High School in 1955, and received his bachelor's degree from Eastern Kentucky State College in 1959. He majored in mathematics and music and was named to Delta Pi, a National Education Honorary Fraternity. Franklin was also listed in the "Who's Who?" in the National Students in American Universities and Colleges the same year. He taught high school in Bellevue for a year.

He continued graduate studies at Indiana University, where he received a M.S. in education. He also attended the University of Illinois, receiving an M.A. in mathematics. Franklin entered Nashotah House Theological Seminary in 1964 and graduated cum laude in 1967. He was ordained a priest on December 9, 1967, in the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield. Fr. Franklin served several parishes during his career in the Diocese of Springfield and the Diocese of Quincy before retiring as rector at the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle in Peoria in 1998. 

Fr. Franklin was a voice of encouragement to many. Long-time colleague and friend Bishop Keith Ackerman recalls, “Fr. Gus and I were friends for 40 years, and when I was elected Bishop of Quincy in 1993, it was Fr. Gus who called me to tell me, ‘You’d better accept the call this time, or I’ll come looking for you.’” 

Before becoming the rector of the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle in Peoria, Fr. Franklin had served throughout the Diocese of Springfield.  

“Ten years earlier, Fr. Gus had phoned when I was elected Dean of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Springfield, but one reason I had to decline the call was due to very complex labor union and management problems in a steel mill where I was asked to mediate,” said Bishop Ackerman. “The good news is that the steel mill was saved, but 10 years later, here Fr. Gus was phoning again.  I was elected, and I had the privilege of having him as one of the most remarkable and gifted priests with whom I have ever served. The irony is that I preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul at his requiem on October 31. I accepted the call to preach where I had earlier declined a call to serve, and he received the higher call where he heard the words, ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant.’”

Since his retirement, Fr. Franklin served as a Canon for the Cathedral in Springfield and frequently as a supply priest throughout the diocese. Fr. Franklin celebrated his 50th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood in 2017 at the Cathedral of Saint Paul the Apostle.

Fr. Franklin was a bi-vocational Episcopal priest for over thirty years, serving also as Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois and Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield. Fr. Gus was also very active in the world of organ music, both sacred and secular. He was an active member and past president of the American Theater Organ Society and founding member of the ITOS. He continued in that role at the Cathedral where he was the Chairman of the Musical Arts Committee and was also a member of the Springfield Choral Society for many years.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 815 S 2nd St., Springfield, Illinois 62704, or Nashotah House Theological Seminary, 2777 Mission Rd., Nashotah, Wisconsin 53058.

Image: Pictured, The Very Rev. Gus Franklin, ’67, on the occasion of his 48th ordination anniversary in 2015.