Obituary: Edward Gilbert Francell

Edward Gilbert Francell, Sr., 89, died peacefully in his sleep on July 23, 2023, at Berman Commons in Dunwoody. Ed was born on May 8, 1934, in Paris, France, to Mariette and Herbert Frankel. He and his parents fled the Nazis in 1939 and settled in California. Because his grandfather, Alfred Rothschild, was born in Columbus, Ga., Ed’s mother’s American citizenship enabled the family to leave Europe during the war. Edward’s uncle, Werner Frankel, was killed in the Holocaust. His aunt, Yvonne, was taken to Auschwitz, but survived and later joined the family in California.

As a child, Ed loved sports and was involved in the Boy Scouts, where he achieved the rank of Star Scout. He graduated from Columbia University with both bachelor’s and a master’s degrees in business. He was in the U.S. Navy for two years as a chief petty officer, where he served on the USS Saratoga and the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt aircraft carriers. Ed and his wife, Claire Griffin Francell, raised four children together during their 64-year marriage. During his career, he worked in marketing and market research for several companies, including Diamond Crystal Salt, Miles Laboratories and Kimberly-Clark Corporation. After retirement, Ed started a new career as a real estate agent and worked with Prudential and Berkshire-Hathaway in Dunwoody for over a decade.

In the 1960s, Ed helped desegregate the Elkhart, Ind. school district and was active in civil rights organizations such as the Urban League and the NAACP. Later, he and his wife, Claire, help found the Northside chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness in Georgia. He enjoyed singing and performing in several musical comedies when the family lived in Indiana. Ed was a dedicated tennis player and captained several ALTA and USTA teams during the 1990s-2000s. In later years, he was a featured speaker at the Kennesaw State Museum of History and Holocaust Education.

Ed is survived by his wife Claire, his sons Ed, Jr. and Tom, his daughters and sons-in-law, Noelle and Bryan Robinson and Mary and Howard Sharfstein, and four grandchildren. A shiva minyan was held at the home of Mary and Howard Sharfstein, 1515 Larrabee Ave., Bellingham, WA on July 31 at 6 p.m. PST. A graveside service will be held at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, Georgia at 11 a.m. on August 28, 2023. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Kennesaw State University Museum of History and Holocaust Education in Ed’s memory at: www.giving.kennesaw.edu/online-giving/special-initiatives.php

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