Franklin Newcomer (1914-1994)

Franklin Newcomer (1914-1994)

Memories about Franklin Newcomer (1914-1994)
He was born in Germany in 1914 while his mother was studying medicine. His parents divorced about five years after he was born. Although he heard about his father, he only saw him once after the divorce. Franklin waited at the train station till his father´s train arrived. Then Franklin and his sister, Else, boarded the train for the duration of his father´s train stop. As the years went by and the Depression came, his father became a highly successful research scientist, living in the penthouse apartment above the Rockefeller family. Franklin was unsuccessful in penetrating the apartment building, but he did manage to enter his father´s office. Of course, he wanted to ask his father for some money to start a modest business. After his father scornfully refused his son, Franklin refused to ever have anything to do with him again. As a matter of fact, he hopped a "banana boat" for South America. Franklin leaned his Spanish on those banana boats, which surprised many a con man who approached him later in life while he was vacationing in Mexico! His childhood sweetheart was Ruth Drake. Her family was quite well-to-do. Franklin insisted they live on whatever money he earned. Naturally, he offered that she could use her own money to purchase any jewelry, clothes, or other personal she desired. Ruth considered the marriage proposal and declined. Crushed, Franklin married Barbara Alice Thomas and they had two children, Barbara Ann (Bobbie) and David. Long after the two children had finished their university studies, Barbara and Franklin ended their marriage. Not too long after, he ran into Ruth Drake again at a cocktail party. They both had carried the torch throughout their lives. Ruth had married a very successful man, but the marriage had failed and she was widowed. So, as the two old lovers continued to rekindle their relationship, this time it did end happily ever after. They married in [enter date]. Franklin died in 2006, leaving Ruth a widow a second time. (Source: Teresa Conant on 6 May 2018 for Wikitree) <!--My Uncle Franklin did live in Rochester, Ohio; but in his childhood only. By 1940 he would only have been in Rochester only during the summer months to visit his mother. He was never in the Navy, but family oral history has it he hopped a banana boat after an argument with his father around the age of 19. Supposedly, he learned a rather vulgar form of Spanish while working on boats to and from Latin America. And by 1940 he had his own business, was married, and had a child on the way. To my knowledge, he always had a drinking problem. I never heard about this accident. But Rochester has less than a thousand residents and I could inquire with one of them and perhaps they might remember something. Uncle Franklin was born in Germany in 1915. His mother was living in Germany with her husband while they were studying medicine. My grandfather did become a doctor of some renown, but my grandmother never practiced. Franklin died of emphysema from a 2 1/2 pack a day smoking habit. He was still smoking through a tracheostomy in his throat at the time of his death. He has two living children. His oldest, a daughter, I'm still in touch with. The younger son I was never really close to. I doubt his daughter would know anything about the accident, either. My suspicion is that, except for his mother and possibly his siblings (the last of whom died about five years ago), it was kept a close family secret. However, I would be very interested to hear about it and see the clippings. And I think it should be attached to his profile. I will also attach whatever you send me to his profile on WikiTree.I may have a photo of Franklin around the age of 35, and possibly, even his car. I will check with my brother who keeps the family photo archives. It may take me some time as I've been exceedingly ill for almost two years now and rarely get out of bed and am unable to even do the simplest of daily tasks. When well, I can be reached at taconant@yahoo.com and 617-792-3407. Thanks so very much for contacting me, Teresa. (Source: Teresa Conant on 18 September 2018 by email at Familysearch)