![]() I got as close to being shot as I care to. I experienced death over there, and losing friends. I ended up in the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne in Vietnam for 11 months." "I regretted my curiosity about two weeks after I was in. "I was curious about the military service and went into the Army," Franz told TV Guide. I came back a much different person than when I left, much more serious. "It was the loneliest, most depressing, frustrating time," he said in a 1995 interview. ![]() He served 11 months with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions in Vietnam.įranz served 11 month in Vietnam in a reconnaissance unit, and after his service he suffered depression for some time afterwards." Army After graduating from college in 1968, Franz was drafted and immediately enlisted in officer's school. Memorials may be made in his name to Hospice House of Mercy, SAINT Animal Rescue or Cedar Rapids Parkinson’s Association.Vietnam vet US Army 82nd Airborne's Dennis Franz Schlachtaĭennis Franz: Airborne Division, U.S. He was just an all-around great guy who will be greatly missed by so many. Tom was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He was preceded in death by his parents brother, Allyn and sister-in-law, Judy Franz uncles, Chuck Noeding, Junior and Ed Davies, and father-in-law, William Flanders. Tom is survived by his wife of 53 years, Gerri daughters, Andrea (Hunter) Parks and Renee (Beth) Franz granddaughters, Sydney, Sammi, and Skylee Parks mother-in-law, Arla (Ray) Powers sisters-in-law, Julie Flanders, Jenny (Len) Pritchett and many aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins. He also volunteered with his wife for many years at SAINT Rescue. He loved music and playing his clarinet and saxophone. He was a member of many community bands: Die Tiefen Keller Kinder German Band in Amana, Dixie Notes Plus, New Horizon Band, Shriners Band in Cedar Rapids and Marion Big Band, in Marion. Tom was a member of the Music Fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and American Legion Post 608 in McGregor for 49 years. He retired in 2009 after 31 years of service to his country. He was first in signal battalion and later transferred to the 34th Army Band in Fairfield, Iowa. Tom joined the Iowa National Guard when he moved to Cedar Rapids. After 27 years of teaching, he retired in 2008 with 108 students. In 1998, Tom graduated from Coe College with a master’s degree in history and education. Later, when they consolidated to Clear Creek Amana, he taught just high school. In 1981, he decided to go back to teaching music at Amana Community School in Middle Amana he taught 6-12th grade. In 1979, he and his family moved to Cedar Rapids where he attended Kirkwood College and got a welding degree and worked for Newell Machinery Company and the Iowa Man. While enlisted in the Wisconsin National Guard, he was an engineer driving tanker trucks and helping build roads on some of the reservations. Their second daughter, Renee, was born in 1975 while there. In 1974, he returned to McGregor to teach music at his alma mater, Mar-Mac. His family followed him and spent two years there. They played at festivals, beer tents, and parades. His next tour of duty was Fulda, Germany with the 84th Army Band. This is where his first daughter, Andrea, was born in 1972. ![]() He auditioned for the Army Band and was then stationed at the Command General Staff College of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In January of 1970, he married his high school sweetheart, Gerri Flanders.Īfter graduation in 1971, he enlisted in the Army during the Vietnam War. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in music and teaching degree. He graduated from Mar-Mac High School in McGregor in 1967. Thomas was born June 21, 1949, in McGregor, Iowa to Alvin and Charlotte Franz. until the time of memorial service 3:00 p.m., Saturday, May 20 at Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories. ![]() A memorial visitation will be held from 1 p.m. Thomas Lee Franz, 73, passed away peacefully May 4, 2023, at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy from complications of Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Bodies Dementia.
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