Four generations: 90-year-old Rod Franklin (centre) with grandson Jamie (left) and his son Parker, along with one of Rod’s three children, Craig Franklin. Rod turned 90 on November 14, a father of three, grandfather of seven and great grand father of five.
Rod Franklin is a pretty genial sort of bloke, that’s one of the benefits of having been on the earth for the best part of a century, but he did not really think turning 90 was all that big a deal.
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“They (his children) wanted me to go and have dinner on the paddle steamer, but I said ‘no’,” he said.
“I told them let’s get to 100 and then we might do that.”
He celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday (November 14) and, apart from waking up to an immediate “happy birthday” from his flood displaced house guests the day went by pretty much as normal.
Rod’s three children, Sydney-based Lynda Dries and Rochester’s Craig Franklin and Debbie Harvey, did not want the occasion to go unnoticed and made contact about the celebration.
Debbie is living at her father’s Francis St home, which was spared from the floodwater by about 20cm.
When I got Rod on the phone he said apart from slowing down a little bit he was “going well’’.
The elder statesman of four generations was born in Williamstown and grew up in nearby Newport, where his father was the local barber.
He was an only child, the son of a World War II veteran, born in 1932 and became a wood carver — as it turns out one with a quite unique claim to fame.
He shared an interesting story of his employment with Myer Emporium, where he was working when a 27-year-old Queen Elizabeth made her first trip to Australia — the first of 16.
“I was responsible for carving the bed head for the queen’s bed during her visit to Melbourne,” he said, giving a unique slant to queen-size bed.
“The Queensland government supplied the mahogany for the bedroom suite. Didn’t leave a signature anywhere.”
After marrying as a 22-year-old, he and wife Ruth bought a dairy farm at Bamawm.
“I stayed in the area from there. After selling the farm I bought Random House and had it for a few years before moving to Francis St,” he said.
His wife of half a century died 12 years ago.
Wizard on the washboard: Rod Franklin used to play the washboard in a Melbourne jazz band. He said he once followed the band to a Deniliquin jazz festival and would often call him up on stage for an extra percussion element. He is shown here performing with Criterion hotelier Craig Mann, who plays the drums, in the beer garden.
Rod’s days, apart from the occasional trip down to the Criterion to play an impromptu set on the washboard, are spent reading and gardening.
“He reads a lot now, war books, being a returned soldier,” daughter Lynda said.
While Debbie waits for insurance assessors to complete their inspection of her flooded home she is staying with her father.
“Craig got dad out of the house, but the water didn’t go over the third step and didn’t get inside the house,” she said.
“He is now spending a bit of time working on the garden.”
A red wine at the end of the day is another of Rod’s guilty pleasures and, judging by his attitude to the 90th celebration, I am sure he has a few bottles in front of him before taking that paddle steamer cruise for his 100th birthday.
