Franklin remembered, honored

Posted on November 26, 2021

By ANGELA M. CASTELUCCI / Managing Editor

You never said “Good morning” to Capt. Gene Franklin.

It was best to start with a simple “morning” and wait for his always-black, never-strong-enough cup of coffee to kick in before starting a conversation.

“We generally didn’t talk until about 8:30 — and we got here at 7. That was after the coffee,” Perry Police Department (PPD) Sgt. Garrett Campbell said.

“When caffeine was introduced into his system, things lightened up a little bit,” Chief Jamie Cruse quipped.

Franklin’s aversion to mornings is just one of the many traits his fellow officers and law enforcement family now fondly remember as they struggle to cope with his sudden passing on Tuesday, Nov. 23. He was 54.

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