Frank Sandlin: Mischief, Humor, Adventure!

 

all photos provided by Corinne Sandlin Larson

A belated tribute to Frank Sandlin who passed away September 21, 2007

If ever Frank Sandlin attempted to hide his “cat that ate the canary” smile, his lips betrayed him in the most devilish manner.

Frank always carried a smile that indicated he had some recent humorous story to report, or soon would have. These stories were emphatically punctuated with chuckles most contagious!

I worked with Frank at Concord schools from 1988 until 1999. He and I worked each and every high school basketball game together. The kids from Ox Bow Elementary school, where he worked as a custodian, would get his attention “Hi Frank!” And Frank would respond with some comment relating to some event of the last week. “Did they make you stay after school?” and other such replies were common from Frank.

He was for sure popular!

Ready for the Oscars!

Very good-natured and well liked by students and teachers, Frank developed a favorable reputation as someone to be proud to call friend!

And, much as he was good-natured and a “nice guy” as teachers report, I wish to highlight his humor.

Those stories he would tell of his weekends, his trips to Sturgis, South Dakota, loaded with antics, adventures accentuated with periodic laughter would brighten up any work day or break time. Frank’s presence faithfully caused the work-boredom to give way to an entertained spirit.

His real-life persona was what movie directors seek to place on the big screen!

And that Harley! If it was anywhere around summer-time, his butt was on that bike! Yes, stories from Sturgis, the open road, Frank had many.

As that bike entered the parking lot of the school that engine announced the presence of pure entertainment for the work day!

Sure, Frank did the work of the day. But his real contribution was to remind everybody that he, and they, were much more than just agents of elbow grease. He stirred up within us that sense of being present in the moment and enjoying personal experience with his humor, his stories.

Frank was fun to be around!

Too bad the movie directors never met him! he would have had a wonderful career on that big screen.

But them again, I’m not sure that screen would have been big enough for his mischievous persona!

In remembrance and celebration of Frank, I invite you to read the brief memoir from his sister, Corinne, below.

 I remembered how Frank would run into someone he knew pretty much wherever we went, especially in Elkhart but in other cities and states too. Shortly after we graduated from high school, we took a road trip to Florida and stopped at a random campground along the way, and Frank saw someone he knew staying at that campground. Another time we went to Ohio to go to a concert and stopped at a restaurant off the highway and I heard someone shout, “Hey, Frank!” across the dining room. When I lived in Denver, Frank came out one year for Christmas. After the family left, we decided to do some sightseeing. As we were driving up Pike’s Peak, I asked him if he thought he might run into someone he knew at the top of the mountain. He looked at me with that twinkle in his eye and said, “I don’t know, but if I do, I hope she’s good looking!” He did not know anyone that day, but he did take me to a biker bar and bought me a souvenir t-shirt. As it would turn out, that was our last trip together.