By his own account Frank survived
an early scare when, as a toddler, his horrified mother retrieved him from the outside
sill of an open upstairs window on to which he had climbed.
The family moved to Forest Gate, going
through the war together. Frank wasn’t evacuated and the family took their
chances in the house or in the shelter in the back garden.
Frank’s education was disrupted
by the war but nonetheless, on leaving school, he started work in the motor
trade.
At 18, like all young men in
those days, Frank was called-up to do his National Service. He served with the
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in Egypt, Kenya and Cyprus at the
tail-end of Empire. Many years later, Frank
would tell the family his favourite stories from his REME days, perhaps more
than once.
Whilst he was away, Frank’s mother
became ill and died not long after he was demobbed, when he was aged just 21.
Frank joined his father working at
the Johnnie Walker whisky warehouse in Whitechapel. It was there, in 1953, that
one of Frank Senior’s colleagues introduced Frank Junior to their daughter,
Patricia.
Married three years later in 1956,
Pat and Frank were together for nearly 70 years.
At first, Pat and Frank lived in
rooms above Pat’s parents in Upton Park. When the two boys, Russell and Martin,
came along the family soon moved to a flat close by.
Frank got a clerical job at the Port
of London Authority in the Royal Docks – now the site of City Airport. Frank
often lamented that the transport links only improved there after the
docks shut!
In 1971, the family moved to a
bungalow in Hornchurch where Pat and Frank spent 51 happy years together.
The boys left home and married
Maureen and Siv and, in due course, along came granddaughter Grace and, very recently along with Grace's Partner Michael,
great granddaughter Evelyn, to join the close-knit family of which Frank was so
fond.
Frank took early retirement from
the docks in the early 1980’s and apart from some time as a messenger in the
City, Pat and Frank enjoyed a very long and happy retirement together.
The increased leisure time allowed
Frank to spend more time looking after his garden but also to develop his keen interest
in music from the Sinatra era. He would relate the story of how, during a
wartime radio show, his mother had remarked “Hear him? He’s called Frank
Sinatra. I think he’s going to be quite big one day.”
Interest in the music of this period
became a real hobby for Frank and, with Pat, they became members of the Sinatra
Music Society, attending regular meetings in London and Southend.
Frank’s music collection from a
wide range of artists of the period grew and, with the advent of the internet,
Frank would scour the web for obscure and deleted recordings to download and
catalogue. So much so that Frank’s CD collection is quite a feature on the
shelving at home.
The music that the family has
chosen for today is a tiny fraction of that collection. It includes
instrumentals by one of Frank’s favourite arrangers, Nelson Riddle, and songs
sung by Nat King Cole, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself and Peggy Lee.
Frank remarked to Pat how beautiful
the song “Only Forever” was, and recently joked that “You Make Me Feel
So Young” would be a good choice for the funeral of an elderly man. “The
Folks Who Live On The Hill” tells a story that the family feels reflects the
life and love that Pat and Frank shared.
But as Frank didn’t leave
instructions for today’s playlist, we can but hope that these selections meet
with his approval.
His ‘Darling Patsy’ spent nearly
70 years with Frank and it is impossible to sum these up adequately here. But
they loved their family life and holidays which later included “Baz”, the
family Beagle.
And once the boys were grown, Pat
and Frank enjoyed their days out at the seaside or ‘up in town’ on long walks
that took in the Royal Parks and the West End and typically included fish and
chip lunches and ice creams.
In retirement Frank was also
known to help Pat out in the kitchen, making his own unique versions of Spaghetti
Bolognese and various casseroles. These
dishes were both tasty and shared the trait of leaving a messy kitchen for Pat
to clear up whilst Frank dozed in the armchair.
Frank was, above all, a devoted
family man who liked nothing more than to play cricket in the back garden with the
boys when they were young, with Baz as an extra fielder.
And when he and Pat were willing
childminders for their young granddaughter, Grace, Frank never once complained,
even when he had to carry her scooter for the entire day on one of their West End
walks when Grace decided not to use it.
Although Frank was a quiet man
who did not show off his extensive knowledge on many subjects, over the years he
imparted valuable knowledge on skills such as DIY and car maintenance.
Frank also taught his
granddaughter everything she knows about growing plants and vegetables, as well
as tactics for playing draughts and chess and how to make the best paper aeroplanes
and add flight stabilisation, as required.
