MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) - A memorial service is pending for former Wisconsin legislator, lobbyist, and attorney Harry Franke.

The 89-year-old Franke died Saturday in Mequon, after he suffered complications from a fall.

He was elected to the state Assembly in 1950 – and after he served one term, he was elected to the Senate in ’52. Franke served a four-year term in that body before deciding not to run for re-election.

He returned to a law practice in Milwaukee. And once it grew, he became a full-time lobbyist.

Although he was a Republican, Franke criticized U.S. Senate Republican Joe McCarthy from Appleton for his anti-Communist talk. And he became the treasurer of a group that tried to recall McCarthy.

Franke’s son John said his father got a lot of angry letters for that – but he was proud of it because, “It was one of his moments of courage.”

John Franke went on to become a Milwaukee County circuit judge and a private attorney.

Harry Franke was also a long-time member of the Milwaukee Rotary Club – and he served as its president.

His love of poetry inspired him to make up a limerick, which he recited at the end of every club meeting.