Karl Franklin is in his 90s and is a widower. His wife, Joice, died in 2021, and now waits for him in heaven. His faith “shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11.1 NLT).

Karl was born at a Methodist Camp Meeting ground in northeastern Pennsylvania, and he lived his early years on a farm in Bloomingdale, Pennsylvania.

He met his future wife in college, and they joined the Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL Global (aka The Summer Institute of Linguistics) in 1956. They worked in Papua New Guinea in Bible translation, linguistics, literacy, and administration until 1990 when they were assigned to the SIL training school in Kangaroo Ground, Victoria, Australia. They also served many years with the International SIL administration in Dallas, Texas.

Karl earned an M.A. in linguistics and anthropology at Cornell University and a PhD from the Australian National University. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Dallas International University in May 2024.

He has published widely on the Kewa language and Tok Pisin (a lingua franca), both spoken in Papua New Guinea. He and his wife and family lived in the Southern and Eastern Highlands for many years.

Karl now lives in Waco, Texas near his daughter and her husband and their three children. He also has a son, daughter-in-law and three married grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren who live in Australia.