David Alexander Franks

David Alexander Franks, philosopher, philanthropist, scientist, artist & author, was born in Toronto on July 23, 1959 to parents Alex & Vivian Franks (deceased). David was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes in 1963 at the age of 4 & was using a chemistry set to check his blood sugars before he started kindergarten.  David passed away at home in Huntsville, in the early hours of December 16, 2021.

David grew up in a loving home in Cooksville, where he made lifelong friends. He was an accomplished artist & won awards for painting & sculpture. He was proud & humbled to be accepted into the Polar Bear Dream Circle. He held many jobs, including makeup artistry for theatre & film and teaching physically disabled children. He also had a number of successful small businesses.

David always enjoyed live theatre & concerts & shares many happy memories with Craig of shows at Rama & most recently the Rolling Stones at Oro-Medonte (last show before Covid). He was a student of film & could point out details others never noticed & quote dialogue. His extensive movie collection boasts many autographs including Sir Edmund Hillary, Jane Goodall & the original Star Trek crew (except McCoy).

David married his soul-mate Susan September 28, 1991 & continued to live in Mississauga where they ran “Complete Video”. They later moved to Amaranth where David became a master gardener, having built an exceptional Zen garden & flower-lined pathways through their forest. David was elected a Councillor & ran Parks & Rec. He introduced soccer, coached T-Ball and Table Tennis & built a skating rink for the kids in winter. It was the 1st time Parks & Rec aver turned a profit. In 2002 he took a team to the Ontario Winter Games to compete in Table Tennis. He had a special kid’s handshake which endeared him & made him memorable to each child he met. Anywhere he went in town, he was greeted with “Hi Coach” by laughing kids wanting a shake. When Susan injured her arm in 2004, they sold their home, packed their Jeep & drove to Central America with their faithful black Lab Joy & were negotiating the purchase of a property in Panama when they learned Sue’s mom had been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. They immediately drove the almost 7,000 km back to Canada, (in 9 days) & nursed her during her final 9 months. During that time, they searched for their new home & were delighted to buy property in Huntsville in July 2005. David’s extraordinary capacity for learning led him to study building methods & in 2006 he designed & built his straw bale home. He most recently became interested in Quantum Physics & has a stack of “light” reading on that subject on his night stand. David was also learning the Cree language & powwow drumming.

David always made an effort to learn people’s names & is well-known to the staff at the Independent, WalMart, Tims, McDonalds & Deerhurst for his uncanny memory, chivalry & politeness. He always waved to cars passing on the road when he was out walking his 3 Labs.

In 2011 following open heart surgery, he began writing & published his 1st book “Son of a Diabetic”. He had a love for story-telling, joined local writing groups & the Canadian Authors Association. He eventually started his own group in Huntsville & Dwight & was revered as a writing coach. Recognizing & embarrassed by the flaws in his 1st book attempt, he honed his craft & undertook a journey to a fly-in native reserve, writing a journal of his emotional time there. He published this book “30 Days in Attawapiskat” & was invited to share his experience at numerous presentations. He successfully raised awareness of the overwhelming issues facing indigenous communities. David didn’t want to “give up” because there were so many things he still wanted to learn & do. His biggest regret was not completing the geodesic dome greenhouse (partially constructed), meant to address food sovereignty on reserves & elsewhere. He was also preparing to publish Volume 2 of a book of short stories, “D Tales”.

David passionately loved his life & lived it – skydiving, scuba diving, whitewater rafting, whale-watching, performed in 3 operas with the Canadian Opera Company, celebrated one New Year in Venezuela & another in Iceland, Oktoberfest in Munich, kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland, rode a gondola in Venice, climbed 1000-year-old Mayan ruins & the Eiffel Tower, swam with the dolphins in Mexico and slept at the foot of a live volcano in Costa Rica. He was thrilled meeting new people, experiencing new languages & cultures. David always tried to find the good in every situation & strived to help others do the same. He lived to bring light & cheer to his friends & at least a smile to everyone he met. He endeared himself to Susan’s Swiss & German cousins & they have already expressed their shock & heartfelt sorrow at his passing. David is survived by his one true love Susan – forever grateful for the time they shared. He will be missed by his sister Wendy Price (John), his brother Steven Franks (Dale) & will be fondly remembered by his niece, nephews, extended family, many friends and good neighbours. A veritable lifetime of memories will remain with his best friends Craig, Barry, Udo, Doug, Gary, LJ, Tony, Marc, Mike and so many more. The only bitterness he ever harboured was for big pharmaceutical companies. He summed it up by saying “there’s no profit in a cure”.

The family would like to express their appreciation to Barry Brear for his contribution of materials & Chris Smith for his generous time & expertise installing a 2nd handrail to allow David access to the house following the 5 days on life support & 3-week Orillia ICU stay in June. We’d also like to thank Dr. D. Johnstone for his many years of compassionate care & support, as well as the nephrologist team in Orillia. A heartfelt thank you to Megan, Virginia, Stacy, tall Cathy & the other nurses from ParaMed for their care this past year, Nic, Mufaro from Care Partners, the ProResp team, the Huntsville & Orillia ICU & Dialysis teams, the Huntsville Paramedics & Larry & Bill Mitchell for their calm & professional support.

At his request, David has been laid to rest in the Franks family plot in Streetsville Public Cemetery. A Celebration of Life is planned for the spring – please refer to mitchellfuneralhome.ca for updates.

As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to “People’s Food Institute” to support food sovereignty, “Water First” to support safe drinking water, the “Canadian Wildlife Federation”, the “Huntsville Hospital Foundation” specifically for the Dialysis unit or the charity of your choice.

Miigwetch and Thank you for everything David. We will hold your love in our hearts till we meet again…

SAVE THE DATE – July 23, 2022 – CELEBRATION of LIFE

David Alexander Franks

The man. The myth. The legend. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to touch his hair. He loved learning, meeting people, travelling, board games & movies. He hated colonialism and hypocrites. Not necessarily in that order.

A celebration of life is an event focused on sharing stories of David and commemorating the joys he brought into the lives of others. As the name implies, it's meant to celebrate his life and focus on happiness and laughter.

A celebration of life allows those whose lives were touched in big and small ways by David to show their respect and honor his memory.

Please bring a few words about David to share. It could be a favorite memory, a joke, a sentence or two on how you knew each other; or please send a photo or song to be included in our slideshow and playlist. Now is the time to focus on your best memories of David. Those who knew him well are aware of his shortcomings, or would be surprised to learn of them. Your memories might be funny, touching, or particularly telling of David’s personality.

Let’s use this as an opportunity to pay special tribute to David.

Saturday July 23, 2022

Active Living Centre   at 20 Park Drive, Huntsville, ON

Lunch @ Noon, Magic and Music to 2:30