In Memory of Dr. Eric Franks
October 27, 1939-April 11, 2018
Eric (Bobby) Wilfred Franks was born in southern India on October 27, 1939. Although he lost his father at a young age, his mother saw to it that he and his siblings received a good education. He attended the National College in Bombay and studied to pursue a career as a medical doctor. On April 15, 1960, at the age of 20, he was saved under the ministry of a single lady missionary. Within a few months, the Lord called him into a life of ministry. As he described it, “The Lord stole my heart in 1960 and my life changed for the better.”
He married Molly Dorcas Suttle on May 2, 1964. That same year he began pastoring the Chembar Baptist Church, the first of many he would shepherd through the years. He began teaching at the Biblical Baptist Theological College and Seminary in 1970, where he eventually became Dean of Academics. The Franks were blessed with six children: Leena (and Francis) Newton; Leah (and Richard) Jacobs; Abigail (and Charles) David; Emma (and Adrian) Hendricks; Lemuel Franks; and Stephen (and Geena) Franks (not pictured).
As his ministry grew, so did his passion for education. In 1977, he left his family and went to California to continue his studies at the San Francisco Baptist Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1980. During this time the Lord gave him a burden to begin extensive church planting throughout India.
In 1986 the Franks joined WWNTBM. They based their deputation out of Trinity Baptist Church in Wilson, NC, which was pastored by one of our founding board members, Robert Winstead. Herb and Ruby Kersey became close friends during this time and assisted them with their travels.
In 1987 he began the Grace Baptist Trust, along with the Calvary Baptist Bible College and Seminary. In the following years he also founded the Grace Baptist School for the Underprivileged, Hearing Impaired, and Physically Handicapped. He also started several other churches, among them the Heritage Baptist Church, Kuramberi Baptist Church, the Jawadhi Hills ministry, the Tiruapttur Baptist Church, and the Whitefield Baptist Church. Many students have graduated from their programs and started other ministries throughout India.
Dr. Franks lived a life of service to others. He knew that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth,” and he preferred to use his resources to make others comfortable, often at the expense of his own comfort. Dr. Franks has been quoted as saying, “When God’s got a great work to do, he looks for a man, and often his family. God’s methods are men!” This truth has been evidenced in his own family, and his legacy is continuing in future generations as his children and grandchildren are active in ministry.
When Parkinson’s Disease began to slow his physical body in 2008, Dr. Franks did not allow it to distract from the work that the Lord still had for him to do. He faithfully continued to travel, preaching and teaching the gospel for ten more years, until the week of his death. On April 11, 2018, he laid down to cease from his labors on earth and to wake in the presence of his Lord and Savior.
