Lydia T. Franz, 84, of Owls Head, died Feb. 11 at her home.
Born Jan. 11, 1924, in Chicago, Ill., she was the daughter of Walter Joseph and Lydia Kralovec Truc. She grew up in Chicago and spent summers in Union Pier, Mich. and the Kralovec lakefront compound.
Lydia, who studied piano from age seven, often played on the radio in Chicago as a child, was on stage with Horowitz for a concert and was also an accomplished cellist. She received a degree in music from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1944, where she was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota.
Lydia often recalled that Dec. 7, 1941, while at mandatory Sunday Church at the University, news came of Pearl Harbor. Her father denied the necessary permission for her to join the service, but since she was only a freshman, agreed that she could enlist when she finished college. She accelerated her studies, graduated two years early, held her father to his end of the bargain and joined the Women s Army Corp in July of 1944. She was assigned to Arlington Hall, Va. as a cryptanalyst, deciphering Japanese code. She memorized 500 four-digit numbers, and then scanned numeric intercepts to identify letters. Lydia was on duty when atomic bombs were dropped in Japan. After Japan surrendered, she was stationed in Shang Hai, China. She returned to the states on a troop ship caught in the great Pacific typhoon of April, 1947. On the return to the states, Lydia spent one year in the hospital recovering from an illness contracted in China. Regaining her health, she received a Master s degree in piano performance from Northwestern University in 1949.
She married Robert Franz in 1952 and moved to Barrington, Ill., where she started her career in real estate. She eventually earned GRI, CRS and CRB designations and founded The Country Squire Real Estate in 1963, which became Century 21 Country Squire in 1974.
She was a founder of the Barrington Board of Realtors, and was its first president. She was also the first woman president of the Barrington-area Chamber of Commerce. She served the Illinois Association of Realtors in all capacities and as president in 1984. She was honored as Illinois Realtor of the Year in 1987. She served on many committees and on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Realtors, and the Executive Committee as regional vice president. She taught real estate classes, and published articles in the field.
She was a member of American Mensa for 56 years, and had a life-long passion for word games, riddles, number puzzles and memory games. Her daughter said she could balance a checkbook in her head if you read her the numbers. She was a formidable blackjack player.
In 1999, Lydia retired to Owls Head where she was known simply as “Bear.”
She was predeceased by a brother and sister-in-law, Arthur and Beulah Truc; nephews, James Arthur Truc and Thornton Turc; sister, Gladys Truc; stepsons, Robert Franz, James Franz, Don Franz, and Fritz Franz.
She is survived by brother, Walter Joseph Truc, Jr. and wife Betty Ann and their family of California; niece, Debbie Gruberg and husband Ron of New York; great-nephew, Brad Schuber of San Diego, Cal.; great-nieces, Julie Truc Larson and Leslie Truc, both of Minnesota; cousins, Arthur Kralovec and wife Dolores of Arizona, and Doris Kralovec Miller of Sion, Switzerland; stepdaughters, Bonnie Franz Ogden and husband Bill of Denver, Col., Sandy Franz of San Antonio, Tex., and Jeanne Burge of California; stepson, Bill Franz and wife Jane of Crystal Lake, Ill.; stepdaughters-in-law, Amy Franz, Jo Franz, and Karen Franz; adopted daughter, Kathleen Ross of Owls Head; her friend of 50 years, Alice Roth of Orlando, Fla.; Alice s daughters, Genie Benson, and Kathy Double; Alice s son-in-law, Bert Benson; friends and caregivers, Harriet Ferguson, and Jill Farrell Delaney, both of Owls Head, and Mary Jane Buchan; and her large four legged-friend, Garth of Nobleboro.
Lydia had wonderful years with her standard poodles, Mozart, Max and Sweet Dudley, in her house beside the water.
A memorial service will be held in Barrington, Ill. in the spring and Owls Head in early summer.
Memorial donations may be made to the Herring Gut Learning Center, P.O. Box 185, Port Clyde, ME 04855, where she loved to picnic and go to lectures, or the Illinois Real Estate Education Foundation, Lydia T. Franz Scholarship, P.O. Box 2607, Springfield, IL 62708 about whose mission, the education of realtors, Lydia was passionate.
Caring cremation is the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock St., Rockland.
