Debbie (Bridges) Franklin, former director of Pepperdine’s London campus and a beloved international programs French teacher, died Dec. 6 at her centuries-old farmhouse, Les Meurs, in the French countryside.
Franklin’s battle against cancer mobilized an international group of friends who prayed and assisted Franklin, her husband Dewey and seven-year-old daughter Aurora.
Friends and family are posting tributes to Franklin, and words of encouragement to her family. “Living at the Pepperdine house with you in 1995 and spending Easter Sunday at your home in France that year was one of our best memories as a family,” Julie Waters, whose husband Ken is a professor of journalism, wrote to the family. “Our girls, who were 4 and 7 then, have such wonderful memories of exploring on your property. But what they remember most of all is when Debbie took them out to the garden to pick lettuce for dinner. They felt like they were in a magical place, in this foreign land.
“Our brief time with you was incredible, from the fantastic dinner we shared in your wonderful great room, to the simple time of worship we shared in the kitchen on Easter morning. Dewey played the guitar and we sang simple, beautiful songs and shared the Lord’s Supper together…such a taste of heaven!!”
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10 in San Christoph, a small village near Les Meurs. Stateside services will be scheduled within the next few months in the United States.
12-07-2005