Burnell E Franke

Oh Burnie! Your always cheerful smiling face (and plaid shirts) will be forever missed at Oakwood!

I could feel the goodness in Burnie’s heart every time I saw him at the rock shop, but so wonderful to learn more about his commitment to making life better for both humans and animals. His smile projected that energy and it feels like a Burnie way to part on the day of his 100th birthday. He was a true gem.

When we started getting into rock hounding, as many, we found Burnie and his shop. He was always encouraging, supportive, and happy to give much appreciated advice. We all loved digging through the collection to find that special sample to just save and enjoy or turn into a special piece of jewelry. Burnie always had some rocks in his pocket. He would give the kids a free sample, usually, if not always, Montana Moss Agate along with the story of where he found them. One of my favorite samples found at Burnies is a piece of dinosaur bone that I sliced into small pendent sized pieces. Following Bernie's example, when we run into a kid showing interest in rock hounding, we give them a piece of dinosaur from Bernies. Sorry for your loss!

Wilmer Anderson When walking with my wife, Rita, we went past Burnie's shop on Monroe St and stopped to see what a rock shop was. We met Burnie and thought he was the nicest man . Later we took Burnie's class on rock cutting an became regular customers at his shop. He was a great example both as a business man and as a human being. He will always be missed.

To each member of Bernie's family, We became friends of your Bernie when we moved to Oakwood Prairie Ridge in Nov. of 2015. We feel we know you & have never met. We shared so many wonderful times with him & he is one of the people in our lives whom we will miss forever. Nancy & Ed Haerter PP 306