The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Frank - Just An Ordinary Man?

by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher

30 April 2003

Can one ordinary man impact a community?

Or was he ordinary?

In the Stronghurst community, people might have classified Frank Avery as an average man.

He lived in a modest home where he and his late wife had raised their three productive children.

He went to work daily at J. I. Case, paid his bills, was a taxpayer, and was a patriot. A veteran and member of the American Legion, Frank was a U.S. Marine and served his country in the Korean Conflict.

He could be seen almost any place in Stronghurst, either chatting in a place of business and helping, or along the village streets, especially after his retirement from Case in 1990.

Stronghurst was his hometown in which he quietly served and regularly found something he could do. He also found people he could debate on issues, for Frank was also a tease and most often took the other side.

When I found something that needed hauled away, I and many other citizens in town could depend on Frank to come and get it, free of charge, to add to his recycling collection.

It was a relief to most of us and a joy to him to be able to turn something old into something useful, or maybe into some cash.

He had a real thing for pop cans thrown about.

You would constantly see him riding his small blue scooter where he could easily keep the town and ditches clean - a relief to the city workers. His venture added up, too, as his children took 600 lbs. of pop cans to the recycling this past week.

He was a Village Board member who was well versed in what was going on around town from first hand knowledge.

He was an active member of not only the American Legion, the Lions Club, the Senior Citizens Club, and his Methodist Church, but also he continued with what he and his late wife volunteered for at Oak Lane Nursing and Rehab Center. He called BINGO and brought lots of joy to residents of the nursing home. He had trays of candy for prizes to give to the winners and worked hard to make sure they were all winners .

He was the "town taxi" and gave many people rides who had trouble getting around or needed a ride just out of the goodness of his heart. And he made many phone calls to widows whom he hadn't seen for a few days, just to make sure they were okay.

His three children, six grandchildren, and three great grandchildren, he was always there for. Throughout their school years, he regularly looked them up once a month to give them a $5 "allowance" and at home he had a jar of cash for them, just in case they needed a snack or a pop.

He was also sexton of the Stronghurst Township Cemeteries for a number of years, and then continued as an assistant.

He never knew a stranger, whether in town or out west traveling. You would find him visiting or you might find him helping put up someone's trailer or helping in some other way. He took advantage of any opportunity to help or lighten someone's load.

He was sociable as well as generous and invited the Lions Club and others to his "The Ponderosa" get-away where he hosted wiener roasts.

As he traveled around the Stronghurst Community, you might find him at Vancil's Locker making boxes, or at Fishers Jack & Jill helping unload the delivery trucks, or at the Ford Garage, Jarvis' Pit Stop, or at Riverland FS dubbed "The Tabernacle," where he had friends around the community he loved to visit with.

Although the minister laughed at one of his report cards from his youth that said- "Restless and prone to be of mischief" - the Stronghurst community - seen Frank in a different light..... "restless and prone to help you out or do a good deed."

When mischief is classified by Webster as deviltry, pranks, shenanigans, tomfoolery, impishness, and tricks, Frank did not fit the mold.

He was at the church folding bulletins or helping set up the tables for a dinner, while always teasing.

He might even be giving his "expert" advice on how to make peanut clusters, but his way was not the ordinary, but the extraordinary.

Community members salute the few who step out to walk the extra mile in service to others, to be good stewards of our earth, to help the aging and shut-ins, to be kind and patient with the youth, and to serve their God and their country.

Yes, small communities are lucky when they have ordinary men like Frank, for it is those who serve and lift others up around them who impact a community.