Raise A Beer to Franklin Lear !
Although I am from Wisconsin, I did not personally know Frank Lear, from the Fond du Lac area. He passed away recently and his obituary made quite an impression on me.
Perhaps I have lived outside of Wisconsin for too long. It has been over ten years. Maybe this type of salute is now common in the Badger State. Still, I found the following line from the notice most endearing, real and warm.
In lieu of flowers or memorials please go to your favorite pub and have a beer and shake a game of dice.
I intend to raise a beer glass and shake the dice cup today in Frank Lear's honor. It is my hope that many years from now my friends will celebrate my life in a similar fashion.
Honest people and good beers shared in community are real treasures of life.
(No offense intended to the florists!)
My sincere condolences to the Lear family.
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Link to Obituary:
http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070126/FON010301/701260565/1295/FONnews
< abbreviated below >
The Fond du Lac Wisconsin Reporter-
Posted January 26, 2007
Franklin L. Lear, 73, died Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007.
Born March 5, 1933, in Shelbyville, Illinois, the son of Jesse and Bertha Viola Lear. Served his country in the U.S. Navy in the Korean War. Married Irene Ray in Mattoon, Illinois, March, 1968. She preceded him in death in October 2001.
Frank worked in the maintenance dept. at the West Bend Company for many years.
Survivors include his children, Sadorus Lear of Iron Ridge, Wanda (Dean) Elder of Niangua, Missouri, Phyllis England and Patti (Gerd) Sterr, both of Fond du Lac, and Leo Ray of Oshkosh; one brother, Lester Lear; two sisters, Geneva Cather and Alberta Hinkle; 19 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; nine great-great-grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; two grandsons, Brian Bly and James Boesen; and a sister, Dorothy Cook.
Services: Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007, at the Twohig Funeral Home of Fond du Lac with the Rev. Bruce Pangborn officiating and burial at the Rienzi Cemetery. The Trier-Puddy American Legion Post 75 will provide military rites at the gravesite. Visitation: Friends may call from 10 a.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers or memorials in his memory, please go to your favorite pub and have a beer and shake a game of dice.
Thank you to the compassionate staff at the Cancer Center, the caring and professional staff at All About Life Rehab Center and heartfelt thanks to the special staff of Hospice.
Twohig Funeral Home, Fond du Lac, is serving the family. www.twohigfunerals. com.
