‘He was Santa’: Remembering former township commissioner Franklin Linn
Updated Feb 17, 2021;
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Anyone who lives in or near Lower Swatara Township knew Franklin Linn.
If they didn’t know him personally, they at least knew his name. There’s an interchange off of Route 283 bearing his moniker.
And even if they don’t recognize him from his road, there’s a good chance that they met him without even knowing it. As children, they might shyly have approached his white-bearded alter-ego and to told Linn what they wanted for Christmas.
Linn was a long-time public servant, a well-known member of the community, a lifetime member of the fire department and a former police officer. And every December he was Santa Claus.
On March 13, a Friday, Marietta neurosurgeon Franklin Lin left the home he shared with his wife and two of his children for a motel.
He has relatives in Taiwan, and he had been getting updates âon how bad things were getting on that side of the world.â He knew the novel coronavirus was serious, and he would likely be exposed to it as a surgeon for Wellstar Health Systems, where he worked. Lin said he thought he could protect his family and set an example for their neighbors by moving out.
âWe were going to be responsible, not vectors of transmission,â he recalled thinking.
COVID-19 vaccine gives doctor hope of returning home to family after nine months apart
Being a doctor who is around COVID-positive patients every day, Dr. Franklin Lin chose to live alone away from his family to keep them safe from the virus. Author: Chenue Her Updated: 1:34 AM EST December 20, 2020
ATLANTA For WellStar neurosurgeon Dr. Franklin Lin, hope was captured in a picture of him, moments after he got the COVID-19 vaccine Friday. Because, for him, this marks the end of a long 9-month stretch for his family.
“In the summer and springtime, I would interact with them more regularly because I would go to the backyard and the porch and we would do things outdoors. That was fun. I regularly interact with them the same way I’m interacting with you, on Zoom,” said Dr. Lin.