Doris Ann Franz
Doris Ann Franz, 57, passed away peacefully on July 19th. The daughter of Edward and Martha Franz, Doris was born on March 19th, 1969, in Red Bank, New Jersey. She was a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, niece, aunt, and friend.
Doris faced many challenges in life, including cognitive impairment, but dealt with them bravely. She was always ready to face a world that she didn’t always understand, cheerfully and optimistically. Doris loved spending time with her friends, and enjoyed rich and loving friendships. She enjoyed making latch hook pictures and other crafts, doing word searches, swimming, playing piano, and reading Reader’s Digest. She loved dogs of all kinds, cats, and tigers. She had an uncanny ability to remember people’s eye color. Doris also had an encyclopedic knowledge of 1980s music, which was her favorite!
Travel was an absolute love for Doris, and aside from living in New Jersey, then San Diego, California, and finally in Michigan, she enjoyed trips to Germany to visit grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. She also enjoyed a cruise, trips to Disney World, a cross-country camping trip, and trips with her friends at Rainbow Homes, where she lived. Doris was never more excited than when she was preparing to go somewhere!
Family meant so much to Doris, and she loved family dinners and other special occasions. Doris knew that family was, of course, blood relatives, but also knew family was much more than that. And so, her family was enormous, and she will be missed by so many. Doris is survived by sisters Jennifer (Dan) Keith and Ingrid Sullivan; nephews Matthew Keith (Katie Beck), Andrew Keith (Vickie Smith), Jack Sullivan; great-niece Emma; friends who are family Jordona Harkow (John Coker), Rosi Kelly, Jo-An Van Doren Beck (Phil), friends from On My Own of Michigan, and her second family – the staff and residents at Rainbow Homes.
Our German family was precious to Doris, and she is survived by Gerhard Bischoff (Christel), Hannes and Steffen Bischoff, Christiana Besa-Schmidt (Matthias), Nikolai and Philipp Schmidt, Alexander Besa, Caroline and Christoph Besa, Burghard Besa, Elise Triftshauser, Renate Fischer (Josef), Sebastian and Christine Fischer, Gisela Hopfner, Markus Hopfner (Martine), Jurgen Triftshauser (Silvia), Herbert and Margot Fuchs.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers Thomas Franz and Peter Franz.
The funeral service will be held at Estes-Leadley Funeral Home, 2121 Cedar Street, in Holt, MI on Saturday, August 1st, at 2:00 p.m., visitation will be on Saturday from 1:30 p.m. until service time at the funeral home. To service may be viewed live at at the following link: Livestream In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Rainbow Homes – https://rainbow-homes.org/ Also, Doris loved bright colors and paisley. Please feel free to dress accordingly. She would love it.
