Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

Pam perhaps said it best with her sad exclamation of loss, upon seeing the post of Frank’s passing,  “Aw Frank ! ”

It is so hard to loose the people we love most,  This can hopefully be softened slightly by the knowledge they were also loved by so many others.  Frank was loved by multitudes.

There are many people that come into a persons life.  Friends, acquaintances, neighbors, family, friends of family, come and go, but very few make such a difference or change the path of their destiny as did Frank.   

Pam and I came to Maine in a VW bug in 1974, with 2 sleeping bags, a Coleman stove, a pup tent and a dream to build a boat to live on.   We had a child and the dream of living on a boat changed to the dream of building a home. We did built a small boat, sold it and bought a piece of property with the proceeds in Hope . 

Perhaps the poorest prospect for credit in the midcoast area, earning just  $2.50/hr, half of which went to rent, I gingerly asked Frank for credit.  We could not get credit from any bank,  credit Union  or  even a credit card.   We were trying to build our home, piece by piece, stick by stick, week by week as we could afford, without a mortgage.  Frank not only gave us credit , but also gave us generous discounts on everything we bought for our home.  If we had a hard month and could not pay the store credit,  Frank would simple say,  “It’s OK, just let me know what’s going on.” 

All the windows on the south of our house were ordered by someone at Rankin’s,, then never picked up so your Frank gave them to us just slightly above cost.   Forty years later, I look out them, and think of his generosity

Later, when we had a frame up and the house was ready to insulate, Red Merrifield arrived in the yard with a truck full of insulation.  He started throwing it off in the drive.  We didn’t have any money that month, so I yelled to him,   “ You’re in the wrong place Red, I didn’t order any insulation.”  He kept tossing if off as he explained,  “Frank said to bring it up here.  The coons got in it and pee’d on it so we can’t sell it. “  Pam and I peeled off the outer layers and bad spots and insulated the whole down stairs of our house.  I am warm in the winter by the wood stove and thank Frank.

Boatbuilding turned to carpentry for me and I hung out my shingle to do building, painting and carpentry.  Things were tight as I was from NH and I did not have a circle of friends nor acquaintances,  Pam had just been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis,  we had a lot of medical bills, and we had a 3 yr. old child.  Your dad hired me to install storm windows and doors,  and do odd jobs he heard of..  Because of Frank,  we managed to keep our heads above water.

In 1983 a house building job fell through in the middle of winter and I was left hanging with no money once again.  I began making wood folk art and Pam began making Teddy Bears to sell. It was a success and after 35 years, Pam and I retired  from a wonderful life creating art and craft.   The only reason this was possible is because we had no mortgage.   The main reason we had no mortgage, was due to the generosity and faith Frank had in us..  What a gift he gave us !!

We always thought Frank helped us so much when we were just starting out, because he liked us.  I guess he probably did.   We thought of him as a truly good man and have tried to carry that spirit forward.  When we went to the celebration of his life Monday we understood he did similar things for many, many people.  I now think of him not just a good man, but as a great man, very rare in the world, and a man to emulate and look up to for the rest of my days.  What he gave was trust and faith to those, who, by many standards, did not deserve it.   He was such a gift to so many.  .

Kevin & Pam White