Audrey Franco

Audrey Sheila Franco (1938-2024), 85, of Brooklyn, NY, passed away on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in New York City. She was born in the Bronx, NY, to Stanley Smith and Anna (Baumwoll) Smith. She graduated from Taft HS and then earned a bachelor's degree at CCNY, where she studied sociology and psychology. She lived in New York for most of her life, but she also lived in Massachusetts, California, New Mexico, and a year in Paris, France.

As a young woman, Audrey taught typing and English. She became a writer, publishing short stories and articles in magazines. She placed twice in the top 100 in the Writer's Digest Creative Writing Contests, Article Category (1969 and 1977). In 1973, she became a member of the Author's Guild. At various times, Audrey was a member of other organizations, including MENSA, and a lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. She was an avid reader, worked on puzzles, played the piano, and did needlepoint. She had beloved pets, as child and adult, including Skippy (bird), Zuni (dog), Triscat (cat), and Vampira (cat), and she looked after Artemis (cat) for a few years for and with her daughter.

Audrey was preceded in death by her parents, Stanley Smith and Anna (Baumwoll) Smith, and her brother, Julius Smith. She is survived by her children, Anna Franco and Zachary Franco, her nieces and nephews (Katharine, Anne, Helen and her husband Glenn, Joseph and his wife Pamela, Walter and his wife Jaquelin), cousins, and other relatives. She is greatly missed.