Franz Elmer (Hartville)'s Obituary
Franz Elmer was born August 31, 1932, in Sombor, Yugoslavia to Stefan and Elisabeth Elmer. He passed away peacefully January 25th, 2018 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield with family at his side.
When Franz was a young boy, his idealic life in the farming community of Sombor was turned upside down with the advent of WW2. It was during this time that Franz’s extraordinary courage, character, and devotion to family were forged. For the next several years, Franz’s focus was on keeping his family and friends alive during the Soviet occupation of Yugoslavia and the Partisan purging of Germans through the use of prison camps. While in the prison camps Franz and his friend Toni would sneak out daily to steal food in order to keep everyone from starving. Franz and Toni kept around 40 people fed due to these forays. Franz knew they would die in the camp if they didn’t escape so using his knowledge of the camp security he helped devise a successful escape for several people.
After the war, Franz and his family settled in Augsburg, Germany where he went to trade school and became a master machinist. He left Germany in 1956 for Toronto, Canada where he was a mold maker for Reliable Toy Company. In 1961 Franz went to work for Winter Engineering in Santa Monica, CA and was involved in our country’s developing space program.
On New Year’s Eve, 1966 he met the love of his life, Janet Swain. They were married on November 22, 1967 and Franz gained a son, Jason Campbell. In 1969, Erich was born and the family of four was complete.
Franz always dreamed of having a farm and in 1974, the family moved to a 167 acre farm outside of Hartville, MO where he raised cows, pigs, and chickens. Franz commuted back and forth to California for work until 1977 when he went to work at Manufacturing Innovations in Tulsa, OK. In 1979 Franz built his own machine shop and called his business Elmco Engineering which he operated until his retirement in 2006. Franz continued to raise cattle and work on his farm up to his passing.
Franz is survived by his wife of 50 years, Janet Elmer of Hartville, MO; his children Jason Campbell of Colorado Springs, CO and Erich Elmer, daughter in law Lisa Elmer, and grandsons Adam and Alex Elmer of Denver, CO; his sister Kati Eisenreich and family of Augsburg, Germany; and numerous friends. Franz was a member of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Mountain Grove, MO.
Franz’s life is chronicled in a book entitled “The Promise of the Sunflowers” authored by his friend, Diane Gray.
In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to Mercy Health Foundation, 615 S. Ballas Road, St. Louis, MO 63141. Mark the donation “TAVR procedure in memory of Franz Elmer”
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