Aretha Franklin’s mother, Barbara Siggers Franklin, & Aretha's father, C.L. Franklin.
Barbara was a gifted pianist and, according to Mahalia Jackson, one of the finest gospel singers in the country. Following marital trouble, she left Aretha's father in 1948 and moved to Buffalo, New York, where her mother resided. She made a life for herself working in a music store, giving private music lessons, and training to be a nurse's aide. She and Franklin never officially divorced. Although it was widely reported that she had deserted her children, Aretha Franklin disputed that claim, and Nick Salvatore of Cornell University took pains to discredit it in his biography of C. L. Franklin. According to Salvatore, she visited Detroit to see her children, and they traveled to Buffalo during summer vacations for stays with her. Barbara died of a heart attack on March 7, 1952, at 34 years of age. Aretha was only 9-years-old.
