Ernest Heinrich Franke

Ernest Franke, 86, a retired Defense Intelligence Agency employee, died September 6, 2013, at his home in Powder Springs, GA, of cancer.



At the height of the Cold War, Mr. Franke supervised human intelligence collection operations at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He retired from that position in 1981 after a 37-year career with military intelligence at locations in the United States and abroad. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. During World War II he served with the Army in the Pacific. He was a member of the Army Counterintelligence Corps Veterans and the American Legion. Mr. Franke was also an accomplished artist who left many beautiful oil paintings with family and friends.



Mr. Franke was born in Germany and moved to New York City in 1935. The first year of his immigration story is told in the book Letters from the Depression: Part 1 (1930–1931). He attended the University of Maryland and lived in the Washington, DC area from 1973 until early 2013. After his retirement he strived to discover the purpose of the universe without much success.



Survivors include two sons, Mark of Powder Springs, GA, and Alexander of Chapel Hill, NC, and four grandchildren.



He was laid to rest at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.