Viterbi holds memorial for Oliver Franke

On Wednesday afternoon, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering held a memorial service for late professor Oliver Franke at the Caruso Catholic Center.

In memoriam · Deacon Paul Pesqueira leads a memorial service for late Viterbi professor Oliver Franke at the Caruso Catholic Center. – Carol Kim | Daily Trojan

Family, friends, colleagues and dozens of Franke’s students gathered at the Our Savior Parish in the USC Catholic Center to honor his memory. Attendees filled the room and many stood in in the back for the duration of the memorial after all the seats were filled.

Close members of Franke’s family, including his wife, Professor Andrea Hodge, and Professor Michael Kassner, a close friend and colleague, spoke at the memorial.

Hodge described him as a loving, generous and very thoughtful husband. She advised the crowd, most of them students, not to settle for anything less than true love.

Professor Franke completed his doctoral studies in materials science at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. He has lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and researched at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and he began lecturing at Viterbi during the fall semester of 2010.

Franke passed away of a heart attack early Thursday morning at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was 35.

Assistant Professor Veronica Eliasson was a colleague of the couple in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. She described how after Franke’s trips overseas, he would always bring back special gifts for friends and family.

“I think it says a lot about his personality that he was very observant and used the information to make everybody happy,” Eliasson said.

She went on to mention that Franke was not a particularly talkative man, but when he said something, it was always of importance.

“He never complained or said anything negative — he would only contribute thoughts on how to make the department better,” she said.

Viterbi Ph.D. candidate Roe Burrell served as Franke’s teaching assistant in the past. Burrell admitted he felt intimidated and impressed by Franke’s resume in the beginning, but the intimidation quickly vanished.

“He was immediately friendly, light-hearted and honest,” he said. He recalled his reaction to the sad news last Thursday morning.

“We were all in shock because he was so young — It was out of the blue. It went from speaking with him Tuesday to him passing away on Thursday with no indication that anything was wrong,” Burrell said.

Rayed Khan, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and a former student of Franke’s, described him as a professor and friend that was always willing to offer advice.

“Meeting him raised the expectations I have for myself and the work I do,” Khan said. “While it is extremely difficult to see a man with so much potential pass away suddenly, it reminds us to constantly strive for excellence, just as Professor Franke would have wanted.”

Oliver Franke’s ashes will be taken to Germany to rest.

“After we are all done with being sad, he’s the kind of guy that will make us smile,” Eliasson said. “We just have to give him a little time.”