Ken

The day after I was born, my brother celebrated his third birthday. He was born November 2, 1941, just a month and five days before the Japanese attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. He was that close to being a “war baby. “ I suppose there is a name for that generation; perhaps he was a “pre-war baby” or a “depression-transition baby.” Whatever his generational placement, he was my older brother.

We were close enough in age that we had some common and contemporary interests. But, he was older than me and he was turned in another direction. It was not until recent years that I came to realize it wasn’t his fault and it wasn’t my fault either. It was Eddie’s fault, our oldest brother. Eddie was the oldest kid in the family, and he was an accomplished and entertaining person. Kennith naturally found himself in a position to compete with Eddie for attention and status within the family. He didn’t have to be concerned with me, he was older and faster and stronger and smarter than me. He had to focus on Eddie who could and would outshine him in just about any contest. As Kennith was three years older than me, so Eddie was four years older than Kennith.

Kennith became Ken in his later years, but while he was still “Kennith”, while he was a very young “Kennith”, he decided what he would do with his life. While still in elementary school, he decided he wanted to be a math teacher, a goal he pursued with some enthusiasm. Graduating from high school in 1959, he enrolled in college and went straight through, completing his undergraduate degree in four years. After graduating from Oklahoma Christian College with a B.S. degree in Mathematics, he began his teaching career at Western Heights High School in Oklahoma City. The year 1963 was an interesting time in public education in Oklahoma. Typical of his peers, he began his career earning about $3,000 annually. Yes, for that time and in that place, $3,000 wasn’t much money. And, it surely wasn’t much money for a person with a college education and a professional certification.

He taught there for a brief period and then moved to the Detroit area where he taught at Michigan Christian College. By then, he had completed his work on his M.S. degree in mathematics. He taught at M.C.C. for the next ten years.

Kennith started something by going to college. There were five children in our family and when you review all the education and higher degrees we hold, it is amazing when one considers our mother did not complete her senior year of high school and our father quit school in the eighth grade, not an uncommon situation among Depression Era kids. Ken was the first in our family, and the first in either side of the family, to attend college and eventually graduate with a degree. Both my sisters and I followed him to college where we were all able to get at least a master’s degree and even more. I’m not sure any of us would have done this without his example.

After ten years in Michigan, he returned to Oklahoma where he gave up his teaching career to work for Southwestern Bell. He began there about the time computers were making their way into the workplace. Not only were they new to companies, but the personal computer was making its way into the American society. The company purchased a large number of these and Kennith saw his opportunity to make his mark. They were a company with a host of powerful pieces of equipment, but their employees didn’t know what to do with them. Seeing an opportunity, he began rewriting the instruction manuals so the workers could understand the new versions written in plain English. He then began teaching employees to use these new devises and how to apply them for greater productivity. For years, when I was asked what my brother did for Southwestern Bell, I had to simply tell them I had no idea, all I knew was that he did something with computers.

I was always envious of Kennith. As kids, he was faster and stronger than was I. I thought he looked better than I did, and there was no doubt he had much greater self-confidence. I think he had a more positive high school experience than I did. He was three years older and, thus, three years ahead of me in school. When I went to high school, I tried to follow in his steps. I joined the same organizations he joined and tried my hand at the same activities he did before me, sometimes with greater success than he experienced, often with less.

After going to college and securing his degree in math, he entered the teaching profession. I followed three years later and selected math as my major as well. I was pretty good at arithmetic, so why not. I discovered calculus my second year in college. He tried to help me through it, but it simply made no sense at all. Even before my calculus experience, I was losing interest in math. Even as a kid, I had always been interested in the past. I liked stories and I liked to tell stories, not just for the entertainment value, but for the educational value. Of course, it doesn’t hurt anything to be entertaining as well. I first moved into history and then into religion and eventually into the ministry, leaving all thoughts of math behind. Math was Kennith’s interest and I realized from that point on that I needed to be my own person and quit trying to follow in his steps.

Kennith raised two daughters, both of whom are a credit to their parents. Like most of us, he has lived a quiet life, enjoying his family and trying to make a difference in his small community and circle of friends. And, he has made a difference. He and Linda have taken on a cause of helping abused, battered and neglected children. Through his social club, he has championed these underprivileged children, taking their pains as his own, and their needs as a cry for help he could hardly ignore. He took to heart the words of Jesus, “Insomuch as you did it to the least of these, you have done it unto me.”

Kennith became Ken and, following his retirement from Southwestern Bell, he began teaching at the Oklahoma State University campus in Oklahoma City. He teaches math. It all makes perfect sense to him and he is masterful at imparting that knowledge to his students. Some people are talented like that. Perhaps the final words used to describe him should be, “Master Teacher.”

Kennith, as he’ll always be known to me, will turn 70 his next birthday. He will be the second of the Franklin kids to enter the eighth decade of life. The 40s didn’t bother me at all. The 50s and the 60s were taken in stride, but when my oldest brother turned 70 a few years back, it was difficult for me to take. We weren’t supposed to get older; we were supposed to remain carefree kids on the farm, as we were so long ago. But, Eddie turned 70; now, Kennith is about to turn 70; and, I’m only three years behind him.