Charles "Chuck" Jay Franks passed away on January 11, 2025 after a sudden illness. Chuck was the son of Carolyn Jane Franks (Wilson) and Charles Henry Franks.  He was born in Greeley, Colorado, his mother's hometown, on November 10, 1945.  He was named after his father, and his middle name came from his father's cousin Jay who was killed during World War II.

Shortly after Chuck was born, his father was released from the Army and became a set carpenter in Hollywood, California.  Chuck's family moved back and forth between Colorado and California until 1948 when his father re-enlisted and they were off to Japan, then Germany, the Panama Canal, and back to the United States in 1961 to Greeley, Colorado.

Chuck graduated from Park Hill Senior High School in Parkville, Missouri in 1962. Following graduation, he spent one semester at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

In February of 1964, he enlisted in the Army and served in the Army Security Agency with assignments in the Caribbean and the Far East.  Early in 1968, he was released from the Army and then enrolled at the University of Missouri at Kansas City where he received a B.S. in Geology in 1972, graduating with departmental honors.

Chuck worked the following 15 years out of the Kansas City office of an international engineering firm (Woodward-Clyde Consultants).  He worked on projects such as the Alaska Pipeline, power plants, Crown Center and other business parks, etc., as well as projects in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Guyana.  He specialized in drilling technology, mapping, explosive design, rock mechanics and instrumentation.

Chuck left this employment in 1986 and moved to New Hampshire where he worked for the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Boston, Massachusetts as a specialist in land disposal of wastes and the development of Federal Regulations for landfills.  As a landfill specialist he was involved in some international outreach programs following the dissolution of the USSR into what we now know as eastern Europe. Additionally, he worked with the tribes of the US EPA Region I concerning issues related to waste management.  As an employee of the US EPA, Chuck was awarded 3 Bronze Medals for his work and efforts in protecting the environment.

After retiring in 2008, Chuck pursued many of his lifelong passions: art, reading, music, travel, and a general love of nature.   He loved to draw and paint images of his life and travels.  His primary academic interests were Medieval European History, Archeology, Mythology, Symbolism in Art, and Art History.

Chuck is survived by his wife Barbara, who he married in 1978; his step-son David Oliver of Medford, Massachusetts; his sister Dinah Zeiger and his brother Stephen Franks both of Denver, Colorado.

A "remembrance" visitation will be held at the Rivet Funeral Home, 425 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, New Hampshire on Thursday, April 10th, 2025 from 4 - 6 PM.,