After his playing years and early teaching and coaching career he returned to nearby Rock Island, Illinois.

Franck played college football at the University of Minnesota from 1938 to 1940, where he was a key player in the dominant national championship team of 1940.

While in college Franck was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

[3] After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Franck joined the U.S. Marines Corps and served as a pilot.

[5] He bought and lived in the Shields House in Highland Park Historic District in Rock Island, IL.,[6] which is now owned by Filipino-American author, Jason Tanamor.