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Bob Franke was born in Michigan and moved to Chicago during WW II where he finished high school and attended a community college. Subsequently he was awarded degrees from Northern Illinois University (BS)Northwestern (MS) and University of Texas at Austin (Ph D). He taught biology at five universities, the last being Central Michigan University where he was also the Provost.
He has been a Unitarian-Universalist since 1960 and president of three congregations. He retired from the university early to attend Meadville/Lombard Theological School where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 2000 in order to begin a U-U congregation in Mt. Pleasant. The same year he initiated the U-U Fellowship of Central Michigan while teaching the Death and Dying course at the university. He was ordained by the congregation in 200l and served as minister until 2006 when he resigned because of poor health.
Bob lives on 20 acres south of Mt. Pleasant where he enjoys the outdoors and is developing a collection of trees and ferns indigenous to Michigan. He has four children and eleven grandchildren, all of whom live out of state.