Another blessing in our relocating to Georgia was our opportunity to visit with Peter and Janet Gregerson. As you may recall, as reported in this book, Crisis of Conscience, Ray was disfellowshipped for having a meal with Peter Gregerson, his employer, landlord and friend. Nevertheless, over the years, the Gregerson’s remained constant and loyal friends to the Franz’. My husband, Dan, also had been a friend of Peter’s going back to 1982. Now that we were living in Georgia, we would get together periodically to have a meal in a restaurant with the Gregerson’s and the Franz’. Since Ray and Cynthia lived halfway between the Gregerson’s and us, we usually met at a restaurant near the Franz’. It was a delightful time. We greatly enjoyed one another’s company and deepened our friendship.
Ray found deep gratification in contributing to the wellbeing of his fellowman; therefore he spent his old age working without ceasing, day after day to the benefit of others. He would be up early in the morning each day to embrace the day’s work. Keeping his supply of books in his garage, he mailed out orders for his books one by one. He found the need to continuingly refine his books as the Watchtower Society changed positions on various subjects, updating the footnotes and appendix. Letters came in daily, either by email or postal mail. He spent much of his time reading and answering a multitude of letters, which to my knowledge he answered every one. He also researched various theological subjects. Even in his advanced age, he had a brilliant mind.
Knowing that Ray was such a kind, thoughtful, and compassionate person, some people thought that he would not mind if they published and sold his books themselves, infringing on his copyrights. Every time he became aware of an infringement he was deeply saddened. He occasionally found evidence that some people were changing the words of what he wrote as well. In each and every instance that he knew of, Ray worked to put an end to the infringement. He was direct, forthright, and honest. He was an honorable man. He expected other people to treat him and his works the same way.
Ray’s indulgences were few. He always wanted a dog by his side. He enjoyed a good dog tremendously! In his life after leaving Bethel, he and his wife had three dogs, one following the other, Lobo, Muchacho, and Niño. Cynthia shared his passion for dogs. Since they never had children, their dogs became their children. He liked to both sing and dance. Some of his wife’s most treasured memories were of Ray singing to her. They also enjoyed dancing together. Ray’s favorite meal was Cynthia’s spaghetti, which she was proud to tell was her mother’s recipe. And no meal was complete without hot sauce. He enjoyed a daily walk with his dog, on the wooded lot, behind his garage. At the end of the day, life was not complete without a glass of wine and a big bowl of popcorn, and it was a great pleasure to share his popcorn with his dog.
Even though Raymond Franz was 88 years old when he died, it was a shock to all of us that were close to him. His uncle Frederick Franz had lived to 99 years old and everyone had hoped that he would share the same life span. Although Ray’s energy was declining and his aches and pains were increasing, there was no reason to believe that his life was about to end. On May 30, 2010, I received a phone call that Ray had fallen, hit his head, was in the hospital and it did not look good. Dan and I immediately drove out to the hospital. Ray had the best medical attention possible, however the hemorrhaging in his brain was beyond recovery. On June 2, 2010, he died. My husband and I were profoundly sad and grief stricken. If Ray had lived as long as his uncle Frederick, we would all have had him with us until 2021. Nevertheless, it was not to be.
Cynthia’s grief was deep and persistent. She could not get over the loss of Ray until the day she died, three and half years later on December 29, 2013. She and I had been friends for 22 years prior to Ray’s death; however after he passed we became closer than ever. Her grief moved me to very deep compassion for her as we spent much time together on the telephone as well as visits to her home.8 I went from feeling that Cynthia was a friend, to feeling that she was an extension of my family. I know she felt the same. It was her wish that she would share her large family of brothers and sisters and their families with me. Her wish came true, as her family is very dear to my heart.
After Raymond died, I assisted Cynthia in selling the thousands of books stocked in her garage. I set up an Amazon account, gave her the labels and she shipped cases of books to Amazon. I actually wanted to take the burden off her and do it all for her, but she wanted to do it herself. She felt that she was doing something for Ray. She insisted that labeling and shipping the books helped her with her grief. We did that until her entire stock of Crisis of Conscience books were gone in the fall of 2013. Eight months prior to Cynthia death, she surprised me by stating that she wanted to transfer the copyrights to Ray’s works right away. She did not want to wait until her death to transfer the copyrights. She said that she wanted me to own them. Papers were drawn up and Cynthia signed them on June 1, 2013. I was then the legal copyright owner to all of Raymond Franz works. I immediately took the appropriate steps to establish this with the Library of Congress of the United States of America.
Late afternoon, on December 21, 2013, I received a call that Cynthia had fallen in her home. Her neighbor had looked in on her, saw that she had fallen earlier that day and decided to tell me about it. I immediately called Cynthia. She insisted she was okay; all she needed was a wheelchair. On the telephone she sounded like that might be true. My husband and I knew of a store located just 2 minutes from our home that rents medical equipment. We quickly drove over and rented a wheelchair for her and were on our way to her home to rescue her. Upon seeing her physical condition, we could see she needed medical attention so we took her to the hospital. After many tests were run, she was admitted just after midnight and stayed in the hospital for the next eight days. On December 29th, while in the hospital, Cynthia had a massive heart failure and died. It is difficult for me to fully express my grief at her passing. I miss her greatly.
One way I am expressing my love for both Raymond and Cynthia Franz is with my plan of covering the world with this fifth edition of Crisis of Conscience in multiple languages. I also intend on protecting the copyrights, preserve the integrity, and legally defend the works of Raymond Franz.
Raymond and Cynthia Franz are not far from my thoughts as I go about my various tasks each day. As close as we were, we did not always agree on everything. All of us were of strong personal opinions. Nevertheless, what we did agree on was that we loved God, and loved, valued, and mutually respected each other. We were dear friends who became “family” to each other and I will carry them in my heart always.
Deborah Dykstra
1The Henke’s did not realize that I had been told that David was a businessman and that I had no idea whatsoever that he was the founder of Watchman Fellowship and had an outreach ministry to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Scientologists and other groups. They thought I had been informed, however I had not.
2Raymond & Cynthia Franz as they were in the late 1980’s.
3From left to right: Cynthia Franz, Deborah & Dan Dykstra and Raymond Franz.
4In August 1989, as we were posing for this wedding picture, Ray joked that he still was not too sure about whether he should approve of my marriage to Dan Dykstra or not. Ray liked to lighten a situation with a joke. The Franz’ were both happy for my marriage and sad I was moving to Michigan.
5We stayed with the Franz’ for a couple of days upon our return from our honeymoon. We wanted a little time with them before departing for Michigan. This picture was our goodbye photo taken in front of the Franz home before we left for our new home in Michigan.
6Ray studying in his home office. He loved to wear sweaters. This one was his favorite.
7Ray enjoyed daily walks on his wooded lot. This photo was taken behind his garage.
8I now know the challenges and difficulties of being a widow first hand, as my darling husband, Dan Dykstra died of cardiac arrest on May 11, 2017.
To contact the writer of the Foreword of this book:
Da
vid Henke
Email: [email protected]
Watchman Fellowship of Georgia
PO Box 7681
Columbus, GA 31908
Website: www.watchman-ga.org
www.NuLifePress.com
Crisis of Conscience Page 56