Born Koestenberg-Velden, Austria
January 18, 1920

The eldest of six children born to Catholic parents, Franz was raised in a village in the part of Austria known as Carinthia. His father was a farmer and quarryman. Disillusioned with Catholicism, his parents became Jehovah’s Witnesses during Franz’s childhood and raised their children in their new faith. As a teenager, Franz was interested in painting and skiing.

1933-39: I was apprenticed to be a house painter and decorator. After Nazi...

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There is a place that’s safe and warm
Where the rains don’t pound
And the bees don’t swarm.
A place where hearts are aglow
and true friendships grow.

A place where true knowledge abounds
And joyful singing resounds.
Like King David of old,
my Kingdom Hall is the place I want to be
Right here and now
and into eternity.

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Mathew your poem is a lovely way,

To express your love,
To our heavenly Father up in heaven above,
And to explain the reason why ,
You shed all the millions of tears you cry,
Jehovah is near those in spirit who are
crushed,
We must be patient the Paradise,
Just cant be rushed,
Perfection Jehovah has got in mind,
For us his children and all righteous mankind,
Jehovah is going to make everything new,
But not just for me and not just for you,
For all our Brothers and Sisters worlwide,
And from...
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Everyone’s so busy and there’s trying times ahead
Some days it’s oh so difficult to even get out of bed;

There’s every kind of pressure and problems galore
We sure are getting tired of this and life is such a bore.

But we keep on trying to serve our God wholeheartedly each day
If we can just hold out to the end, we’ll be joyful and gay;

It does seem hard each day a positive outlook to have
But consider the alternative; does the world provide a salve?

Remember, the end is near, for t...

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