Prominent suburban attorney, businessman and Democrat Herb Franks dies
Herb Franks, who founded two banks, a prominent law firm and a Jewish congregation all while becoming an influential Democrat in the Republican stronghold McHenry County, has died.
Franks, 89, died Tuesday at his vacation home in Florida, two months after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. The illness was discovered when he had a seizure at the offices of Franks Gerkin Ponitz & Greeley, the law firm he founded in Marengo.
"He was a character - a guy who had a strong moral compass and who was thoughtful," said his son Jack Franks, a former state legislator and onetime McHenry County Board chairman.
"He marched to his own drummer and was always into Democratic politics," he added.
According to a biography on the Marengo-Union Chamber of Commerce's Hometown Heroes website, Herb Franks graduated high school at 16 years old then graduated from Roosevelt College before moving to Washington, D.C. There he attended law school at American University at night, while working on Capitol Hill during the day.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army shortly before marrying his wife, Eileen, and served until 1958, when returned to law school and passed the bar in 1961.
He continued to work into his late 80s, meeting with clients in the weeks before his passing.
"He never retired," said his sister, Helen Lindow.
With Lindow, Franks founded First National Bank of Marengo and State Bank of Wonder Lake. With his wife, Eileen, they also co-founded the McHenry County Jewish Congregation, based in Crystal Lake.
"(We) didn't always agree, but we were in a tremendous amount of businesses and partnerships together," Lindow said.
His Democratic politics - a rarity heavily Republican McHenry County - led him to become close friends with former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. The now-retired White called Lindow and Jack Franks Tuesday to offer his condolences, they said.
He only ran for office once, an unsuccessful bid for Boone County state's attorney.
"We kid about that. That the best thing he did was run and the best thing was losing," Jack Franks said.
The elder Franks also was known for winning a client the first $1 million verdict in McHenry County.
"A trucker had gone through a folk's home," in Marengo, Jack Franks remembered.
Jack Franks, also an attorney, litigated one case with his father - a slip-and-fall lawsuit in McHenry County. The defense said the defendant "had put up a cone, warning the person" of the danger, so Herb Franks crossed-examined the cone on the stand, his son said.
"It was hilarious," he added.
Herb Franks' legal standing in Illinois was cemented in 2000, when he was elected president of the Illinois State Bar Association.
In 2014, to honor his 50th year as a litigator, Franks was roasted with several Illinois Democratic mainstays in attendance. A few of those prominent figures often joined Franks on fishing trips. The group changed from year to year, but included White and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, among others.
Franks' love of fishing will definitely be a part of his eulogy, said Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein of Congregation Kneseth Israel in Elgin.
"Herb was that righteous person. Justice and righteousness and what we translate to charity, but really is righteous giving," she said.
He is survived by wife Eileen, sons David, Jack and Eli, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A funeral service is planned for 10:30 a.m. Friday at Congregation Kneseth Israel, 330 Division St., Elgin, with interment at the McHenry County Jewish Cemetery, 14307 Kishwaukee Valley Road, Woodstock.