Dennis Franzen was, is, and always will be a Child of God. Those words alone can fill us with enough hope to make it through these days of grief. But our everlasting, ever-creating, ever-life-giving God doesn’t create us for God’s pleasure alone. God creates us for one another, to live life abundantly with the people we love. Dennis loved life, he lived it abundantly, and he loved those who lived it with him. His love for this life is another source of hope for us. We mourn Dennis’s death but we sure do celebrate the way he lived.
Dennis was born to Betty and Oliver Franzen on August 3, 1951 in Elmhurst Illinois. He graduated from York Highschool in 1969, and Elmhurst College in 1973. He married his wife, Margaret Ann (Fuchssteiner) Franzen on June 2, 1973. Professionally, he served at Downers Grove National Bank from 1973 – 2010 transitioning into Pastoral ministry as a Lay Minister and then an Ordained Minister at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lisle, IL. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; brother, David Franzen (Linda Franzen); son, Daniel Jay Franzen (Elena Trudeau Franzen; daughter, Caroline Jewell Franzen (Mark Pierson Mouradian II); and his grandchildren - Jaina Margaret Franzen, Nathan Jay Franzen, Mark Pierson Mouradian III, Alexander Jay Mouradian.
“And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:7-8a). Dennis’s life was a testimony to this promise of Christ swallowing up death forever. He was full of life, he was an artist, a pastor, a lover of beauty. He savored Christ’s love, his family, good food, God’s creation, and cool breeze off the lake. His infectious smile and laugh will linger in our memories for a long time. Dennis Franzen lived his life with a palpable hope in Christ’s resurrection, and it is that hope to which we cling today.
