Burr Oak Tool Inc. Founder Passes

Newell A. Franks, age 98, of Sturgis, Michigan, founder of Burr Oak Tool, Inc. and benefactor to the city of Sturgis, passed away peacefully at his home on 30 October 2007.

He was born on 8 June 1909 at the family’s country home in Brimfield, Indiana and graduated from Rome City High School in Rome City, Indiana, with the class of 1927.

In 1944, Newell and two other gentlemen started Burr Oak Tool and Gauge Company, Inc. (later Burr Oak Tool Inc.) in Burr Oak, Michigan and then moved the company to its present location in Sturgis in 1946. Newell worked actively in the business until he was 95 and remained on the board to the present day. Burr Oak Tool produces custom production equipment for the manufacturing of heat exchangers. It was Newell’s direction and drive during the infancy of the HVAC industry in the mid-1950’s that allowed the factory to eventually provide OAK machinery to leading air-conditioning and heating manufacturers around the world.

He will be missed by the industry, the community, his family, and his employees.