Frank, The Polish Prince

Frank is our neighbour and lives across the street from us. Sunday morning he passed away after a lengthy battle with several health issues. I knew Frank for 12 years and interacted with him on many levels. We both like to garden and keep our homes well managed and you could see Frank every day trimming his lawn or helping his neighbours do the same. We often crossed the street in the morning to discuss the sports events from the day before. Frank loved the Yankees and followed every game. He was a small man physically but played semi pro baseball and earned his spot on the team as a catcher. Look at his hands and you saw hands that betrayed the arthritis as he said nearly every finger was broken at one time or another while playing baseball.

Frank was a collector of memorabilia and had a collection of baseball uniforms, pictures, bats and autographed balls which amazed my grandson who was invited by Frank to watch he and I engage in our friendly snooker games. He was good at that as well and always smiled in a knowing way when he won the best out of three. I knew he played golf and invited him to come and spare with my group who played every Tuesday. He came and conquered. He won the money on a regular basis, so often I used to accuse him of not knowing how to count. At one time he was a scratch golfer.

The Polish Prince loved his wife Renee, his dog Molly and his parrot, Mr. Beeks. This was a small family but he extended it to include his long time neighbour Grace who knew him better that most of us. He sometimes came across as gruff and tough but we all knew that was a veneer to cover up his soft spots. He had a cache of dog biscuits at his driveway and every dog knew it and stopped for a treat, He used to tell me of the gifts he bought for special occasions for his kids at the crossing of the school he guarded daily. He was tough there protecting his kids but loved the job and loved his kids.His kids loved him and showed it at Christmas when they filled his car with gifts to show thanks for a job well done.

Frank will be missed by his wife Renee who watched over him so faithfully during his battles with health issues. He will be missed by the folks who live on Falgarwood as he was a good man and neighbour. He will be missed by me because he was my friend.