Frank was the youngest of seven kids. He grew up in the depression of the 30's. His father died when he was 10 years old, as did his oldest brother not long after. Life was pretty hard during his early years. He moved around with his mother and the rest of the family.When he was born, there were no doctors around. For this reason he never had a Birth Certificate. When he wanted to join the Army, statements from former neighbors had to be collected, verifying when he was actually born.
He was a member of Man (W.Va.) High School, class of 43. When the class was graduating, he had already enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Like many of his era, he felt an obligation to do his part to win the War. He never went overseas, but spent the majority of his time in the midwest. First as an aircraft mechanic and later as an Enlisted Aviation Cadet. The war ended before he got his wings. He was discharged as a Corporal.
The G.I. Bill allowed him to be the first college student in his family. He attended Glenville State College and received an A.B. degree in Math. After attending West Virginia Institute of Technology, he received a B.S. in Physics. He got his Masters Degree at (then) Marshall College, in Huntington, W.Va.
His first teaching job was at Chapmanville (W.Va.) High School. One of his students was my Aunt Phyllis. She introduced him to my Mother, and the rest, as they say, is history. He taught there for a couple of years and got a job as a Chemist, for the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad. He moved to Huntington, where my sister, Anita, and I were born. His next job was teaching at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio. The next year he moved to Glenville, and taught there the remainder of his life.
He wasn't a big man, but he was as tough as anyone I've ever known. He was a very kind man and had a rather dry sense of humor. I think I got that from him. We couldn't travel far throughout the state, before he would run into one of his former students. I never heard him say anything bad about someone else. I'm sorry to say that I can't say that about myself. He was always fascinated with electronics and astronomy. He was one of the first people in Glenville to have a CB radio. This was when they were about the size of a computer case. Had he lived, I believe he would have been very excited about computers and the Internet.
In March 1970, the day after a total solar eclipse, he woke up nauseous and incoherent. He was suffering from a massive brain tumor. An ambulance took him to West Virginia University Hospital for surgery. Medical science was a far cry from what we know today, and he never recovered. He lasted for about a month, and died. I never got to know him as I would have liked, but none of us knows the time or place of our demise. I know I've lived very differently from him, but I've never forgotten how he treated others and I try to keep that part of him with me. Thanks for your example, Dad.
