Phil Frederick Franklin, 94

Phil Frederick Franklin passed away at Luther Park in Sandpoint, Idaho, on Jan. 5, 2017, at the age of 94. He was an aspiring writer and actor who often acted in local theater groups. He worked in advertising most of his life but he never lost his love of acting.

Phil was born in Glendale, Calif., on Aug. 28, 1922, to Edward Frederick Franklin and Leone Ruth (Andreen) Franklin. He graduated from Glendale High School in 1940 and worked at Walt Disney Studios after graduation.

After the outbreak of World War II, he attended the California Maritime Academy in San Francisco and was commissioned on Dec. 12, 1942. He was a Merchant Marine Officer for Moore McCormack S.S. of San Francisco from December 1942 until April 1943. He began his active service with U.S. Navy aboard the USS Cache, a fleet oiler, in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and earned medals and awards in the Asiatic-Pacific Area, the Philippine Liberation and World War II Victory. He was released honorably to inactive duty on May 23, 1946 in Los Angeles, Calif.

He attended USC after the war and pledged Sigma Chi fraternity.

He worked for his father at Franklin & Associates Advertising and Printing in Los Angeles.

On Dec. 14, 1950, he married Audrey Eleanor Shea in Mexico City, Mexico. Phil met her through a local theater group that he acted with in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles.

He was an advertising manager at the Santa Barbara Mutual Building & Loan Association in 1951. His son, George Fredric Franklin was born in San Pedro on April 18, 1953. They moved to La Jolla, Calif., in 1954 where he worked as an account executive for the Dan Lawrence Advertising Agency. He later worked for Barnes Chase Advertising (later Barnes Champ) in San Diego. Daughter Shelley Katharine Franklin was born on Nov. 5, 1957. In September 1963, the family moved to Lido Isle and for a summer to Balboa Island in Newport Beach, Calif., where he opened a branch office for Barnes Champ Advertising in Santa Ana, Calif. The family moved then to Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (San Diego County) in September 1965. He continued to work for Barnes Champ Advertising until leaving to start his own agency, Franklin & Associates Advertising in the early 1970s. He retired in 1987 from Franklin & Associates and moved to St. Helena, Calif., 1988. In December 1994, they moved to Sandpoint. They were members of the Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society.

Phil is survived by his wife of 66 years, Audrey ‘Michael’ Franklin; his two children, Fred (Deborah) Franklin and Shelley (Scott) Johnson of Sandpoint; two stepchildren, Mike (Susan) Okey and Candace Leverenz of California; four grandchildren, one great-grandchild and two great-great-grandchildren.

Phil was preceded in death by his sister, Jeanne Vanderburg, in 2012. Phil was a great family man and devoted husband and will be missed by all of the people whose lives he touched.

Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements.

Please visit Phil’s online memorial at www.lakeviewfuneral.com and sign his guest book.