Obituary of George William Franks

FRANKS, George William died May 22, 2016 after a few weeks of acute illness. He was born in Silver City, New Mexico on December 27, 1941. He was preceded in death by his parents, Alvin and Mary Franks and his brother, Richard. In 1880 his paternal grandmother, Maggie Flury Franks as a four year old pioneer moved to Grant County, then part of the New Mexico Territory. George grew up surrounded by neighborhood friends and a large extended family of ranchers who had plenty of the open space he loved. A passion for mathematics and a unique ability to visualize 3D geometric space led to his earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. He came to Tucson soon after and worked for tool manufacturers, the University of Arizona High Pressure Lab, Fire Protection Companies and in the 90's until retirement, began the work he was most proud of as a member of an elite team at the Magma Copper/BHP smelter at San Manuel tasked with improving the capacity of the Flash Furnace burner. He was the mechanical design engineer on the project team. The improvements the team made increased the capacity of the Flash Furnace considerably while reducing emissions. The burner/wind box design was a new and unique design that remains unparalleled throughout the copper smelting industry. George is survived by his wife Armena; daughter, Maggie; son, Hagan and his wife Emily and their children, Charlotte and Clark. Among the attributes his family is proud of is the courage and good humor with which he faced bipolar disorder and that when reliable medication became available in the 1980's to control it, never once hesitated to do what was necessary to have as productive a career as possible and to be loved and supported by his family. We thank Northwest Medical Center for the staff's many kindnesses and Adair-Avalon for the same. His ashes will be buried in Silver City. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOME, Avalon Chapel.