Ten Questions for George & Annie Franco
George and Annie Franco are newly weds who minister at Harbor Light and Men's Business Fellowship. Retired only from their vocations, they serve at almost every opportunity offered to them. George loves to cook, and Annie is an avid reader. George and Annie are the proud parents of 9 children and 18 grandchildren.
Q1. You both were raised in two different Americas. Describe your upbringings:
Annie:
I was raised literally in a shack built by my daddy and granddaddy way out in the country in Northern Mississippi. My daddy was a carpenter and an alcoholic who left home many times, sometimes for years at a time.
There were 5 of us children, and we were very poor. When there didn’t appear to be anything to eat, mama would tell us about the miraculous pitcher in the Bible and sure enough food would come from somewhere, maybe just a biscuit and molasses.
We had no running water, no electricity, no radio. When mama washed, we would bring water from the creek, drag logs from the woods, make a fire to hear the water and then she would scrub the clothes on a washboard. No matter how hard she worked or how worried she was about our next family meal or how often daddy left home, she was always singing hymns such as “Blessed Assurance”, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, “Rescue the Perishing”, “Trust and Obey”, etc.
To make spending money, I used to pick cotton at 35 cents per hundred pounds. I never picked a hundred pounds.
We always went to Sunday School (church once a month), although we had to walk a mile and a half on a gravel road.
When I was five years old, I answered an altar call and gave my heart to Jesus.
When I was very young, I had diphtheria, which could have been fatal, but God spared my life.
It used to get very cold in Northern Mississippi and wood was scarce, not because of lack of trees but lack of manpower. We burned up fence posts, the hen house, and daddy’s shop, one board at a time. We used kerosene for lamps and when that ran low I would study by the fireplace with only light from the embers.
When I was 16, I rode a bus to the county seat and looked for job. I finally found one in a small hospital as a secretary although I had never seen a telephone. I lived in the nurses’ dormitory for the summer and made enough money to put electricity in our house.
I wanted to go to Business School (college was out of the question) but needed $200 for the tuition. I asked my cousin to lend it to me and he said “No” so I went to the next town where there was a bank and asked the manager. When he asked for collateral, I was stuck, so he said “No”. I saw my hopes and dreams going up in smoke so I started to cry and he relented. That kind gesture put me on the road to success and 47 years later I went back to that man at the bank, now in his 80’s, to thank him. I was so overwhelmed that I started to cry and he cried with me.
While in Business School, I was an au pair for a family with three boys who attended an Assembly of God church. I went with them and rededicated my life to the Lord at age 18, though I can't say at that point I had completely surrendered to Him.
George:
We were an immigrant family of 10 children, me being the youngest in Brooklyn, New York. Three were born in Augusta, Sicily and seven were born in Brooklyn. We were a poor family living in a tenement. My Dad was a longshoreman who worked when there was work trying to make a decent living. He had several strokes and was ill most of my life. He died when I was 14 years old and by then several of my siblings were married and out of the house.
Q2. George, tell us a bit of what is was like to fighting in Europe during World War II. I heard you were shot at a couple times and survived. What happened?
At age 17 ½, I enlisted in the Army Air Force as a Cadet, and as soon as I finished high school I was shipped to Mississippi for my basic and then overseas to Germany. We were stationed in southern Germany outside Munich at an old German air base. The war in Europe was over, but there were many die-hard Nazis around. The Air Force forbade soldiers to be out at night alone. I sneaked out of camp one night as young men do to see a girl, and on the way back about 1000 feet from the camp was approached by a car with men planning to do me harm. They were also violating the American regulations as Germans were not supposed to be on the street after dark. They all got out of the car and approached me. I knew I was in danger. I could see the light of the camp and as they hailed me I started running. They shot at me several times at close range. I never looked back but kept running toward the rear guard-post at the camp. None of the bullets hit me.
Q3. George, is it true you were the youngest of ten children? Tell us about your childhood and your miraculous entrance into this world.
My mother was giving birth to me with the assistance of a mid-wife. There were problems with my delivery because my birth weight was 16-1/2 pounds. My shoulder was caught under my mother’s pelvis. By the providence of God, the hospital was only 2 blocks away. My father, who didn’t speak much English, ran to the hospital and fortunately ran into an Italian doctor who came to the apartment to assist with my mother. The doctor saw the situation and told my father that it was either my mother or the child. I was presumed dead as I was blue. My father told the doctor to save my mother as he had nine other children. The doctor put a piece of gauze below my chin and extracted me from my mother. He cut the umbilical cord and left me for dead in the bassinet beside the bed. He proceeded to work on my mother while my father went over to the bassinet and saw me move. Though given up for dead, God had other plans for my life.
Q4. Ok George, I know you don't like to talk about it, but tell us a little about working as a fireman in New York City. Yes, we want to hear a bit about those awards.
In 1949 I joined the New York City Fire Department. My career lasted 25 years with the Fire Department. I retired in 1974. In the course of being a fireman, I was awarded three different medals for bravery. Two of these medals were made by Tiffany’s in New York of solid gold. The other one given by the City was made of bronze. In December 1955 I responded to a fire in an affluent fireproof apartment on the 12th floor. The room was preheated to a very high temperature, as there was no oxygen in there for the fire to ignite. It was just smoldering from a cigarette the lady had smoked in bed. The lady had made it as far as the living room and was overcome by the heat and smoke The superintendent said there was a lady in there. I went in while my partner went upstairs to open a window to get some oxygen. Had he been able to accomplish this at this time the apartment would have blown up, and I would have been burned alive with the lady. My partner did eventually gain access to the apartment above and break a window and the apartment did blow up.
However, by that time I had found the lady and drug her by the hair to the front door. When I had tried to pick her up, my helmet fell off and I received burns on my ears and face and the hair on my head was burned. The lady had inhaled so much super heated air and smoke that she died 5 days later.
At another time a homeless person built a fire in a building that was to be demolished. The place caught fire, and he couldn’t get down the stairs so he climbed out the window. I was the chauffer of the hook and ladder and as we pulled up to the building we saw him clinging to the outside window ledge in –2-degree weather. We put the hook and ladder up, but it was short about 2 feet from reaching the man. I climbed up and put my feet into the ends of the ladder. My partner on the ground tried to raise the fly from the bed of the ladder, which was a manual instead of hydraulic ladder, but my foot was caught and it wouldn’t move. When the man saw me, he just let loose and I grabbed him out of the air and the reason I didn’t go down 60 feet with him was because my foot was jammed between the bed ladder and the fly ladder.
The medal the City gave me was when a building collapsed and the Captain and I fell from the top floor to the basement. I was uninjured, but the Captain was out 3 or 4 weeks from work.
All of these times I was physically saved were not by luck but by the intervention of God on my life, though I did not realize it at the time.
Q5. Annie, during your first marriage you learned that your husband was bi-polar. How did you handle living in that situation?
My first husband John and I married in 1952 and had five children. In the late 70’s, I noticed my husband’s personality started to change. Once a frugal man, a product of the Depression, he started spending money foolishly, bought 92 ties at a church rummage sale, bought cars, trucks, businesses, all manner of things. I found myself following behind him trying to cancel these deals. Only God kept us from losing our shirts or worse, ending up in jail.
I feared for my life, though he never touched me in anger. He was very rough on the kids. He was very unpredictable. I knew he had a pistol with bullets and daggers and swords, which he had brought back from WWII, which disappeared. I slept with one eye open as he was up and down all night. One day I noticed the chest of drawers moved a little and I looked underneath and found all those weapons ply butcher knives. After several years, I got him to a psychologist and then a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with bi-polar and borderline schizophrenia and put him on medication.
These were some really dark days in my life and my children's lives. I prayed when things got dangerous but didn't really surrender all my worries to the Lord.
Q6. You both were married for several years before you got together. How did you handle that time of loss when your spouse went on before you?
Annie:
My husband died from a heart attack and complications of diabetes at the age of 69. When he died, I thought my life was over. I wrote my friends and relatives that didn’t know of his death and at the end of the letter I said, “I constantly ask God what His purpose is in my life.”
There was a guy at church who lost his wife 6 weeks before my husband passed away. We comforted each other and eventually started dating. He spent 7 months of the year in Florida. In 1997 my world came crashing down as he announced he was moving to Florida permanently.
I went into a deep depression, quit cooking and eating, cancelled my appointments and sat in a chair all day. I knew God was with me, and I knew what He wanted me to do. He wanted total surrender and I was not going to do that because it would mean giving up any thought of ever getting with this guy again. Finally the pain was more than I could bear, and I knelt by my bed and sad, “God I am all yours, do with me whatever you wish.” No words can describe the peace that came over me.
I continued to be very involved with the church and became a lay minister.
George:
After 47 years of marriage, my wife passed away. I then devoted my life to doing more for the Lord. I was cooking for different churches and the homeless. I was also very active in the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship. It is now called “The Businessmen’s Fellowship”, a full gospel organization.
Q7. I think people would enjoy how you both met. Briefly tell us that story.
Annie: My first husband and I had traveled a lot and cruising was our favorite so I continued to cruise after his death alone or with a friend. On a Charles Stanley Christian cruise, I met Walter Lobato. We exchanged Christmas cards and discovered we were both going on the same cruise the next year. That year Walter brought George Franco and introduced us. It was a 4-day cruise and by the end we had each other’s email address. That was March of 2000. I came to see him in June and stayed at the Best Western. By the time I went back to Michigan, we knew we were in love.
George came to Michigan from a visit to New York, and then I went to New York where he proposed to me. In September while still in New York, he was rushed to the hospital with tachycardia and almost died. I knew the Lord had brought us together so I just kept repeating over and over to God, “I know you will never leave me nor forsake me.”
We were married October 14, 2000.
Our love story has been a great witness of the grace and mercy and glory of God. I can’t praise Him enough for who He is and what He means to me.
Q8. Annie, I know you love to read books. List for us some of your favorite titles and authors.
I don’t read as much as I used to as I’m too busy, but I have a heart for missions and love to read books about them. Some of my most recent are: “The Heavenly Man” by Brother Yun, “Peace Child, “The Lords of the Earth”, and “Eternity in Their Hearts” all by Don Richardson.
Another good book is “Jesus and Muhammad” by Mark A. Gabriel.
George and I do devotions every day and in addition to the Bible we read “The Word for You Today” by Bob Gass, “The Daily Bread” – RBC Ministries and “In Touch” by Dr. Charles Stanley. On Friday we read “Praying for Muslims”.
Q9. George, you have committed to Business Men's Fellowship for several years. Tell us a bit about your involvement and what you like about it.
I have been with Businessmen’s Fellowship in California for 18 years. The greatest heart of this fellowship is testimonies about how God gave a person a new life in Him.
Testimonies are a way to bring the Gospel to unbelievers and help them to realize that what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for the person giving the testimony He will do for them. Our Chapter meets at the Hometown Buffet at Newpark Mall every Monday from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm for lunch and testimony. We also meet every 4th Saturday at the same place at 9:00am for breakfast and testimony. I am the lunch coordinator and treasurer of the Chapter. We are the Tri-City Chapter, Newark, Union City and Fremont. All are welcome, ladies and men and first timers will be treated to a lunch or breakfast.
Q10. What do you enjoy about being a part of the Harbor Light family?
Annie:
I enjoy Harbor Light for many reasons. I find it to be a very loving church. When I came to California and married George, the people at Harbor Light had known and loved his first wife, Vicki, and yet they welcomed me with open arms. I had left my family, my church, my friends, my neighbors, my physicians, everyone I had known for nearly 30 years and yet I felt right at home at Harbor Light. I also appreciate the learning experiences that are available and especially the opportunities to serve.
George:
Since my conversion from Catholicism to the Pentecostal faith of the Assemblies of God churches, my convictions of their beliefs are stronger than ever. Harbor Light has met all my expectations with the different classes and opportunities to better our knowledge of our faith. I am glad to be a member of Harbor Light Church.