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Mother (Flossie)  was very aware that Frank would never make a good farmer. He disliked everything about it. I can recall his trying to milk the cows; he hated the job and what a poor job he did—not stripping them properly tended to dry them up. He loved machinery and tinkering with old cars—one, in particular, his “bug”, was his real joy. He was also fascinated with aviation and had been from the time that he paid a dollar to ride in a small barnstorming plane that had landed on the benchland above the Grantsdale property. He wanted wings!

 

It was for this reason that, upon his graduation from high school in 1939, the decision was made to take him to California to attend Curtis Wright Technical Institute in Glendale.

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Editor's note: 

Frank completed his studies and Curtis Wright Technical Institute in Glendale and went on to become a Captain for Continental Airlines for over 30 years. During his career he flew an number of aircraft from DC 3's to the DC 10. He had several routs from the DC 3 days of flying over New Mexico, Arizona and California to the later part of his career when he flew DC 3' over the pacific ocean to Hawaii and New Zealand. He retired from Continental in 1983. In addition to being a pilot, Frank was also a licensed airplane mechanic. When Frank was flying for Continental, his family got to fly for free! Flossie enjoyed numerous free trips to visit family all across America and vacation in Hawaii. Of courseFlossie told everyone from the ticket counter to the flight attendants that her son, Frank was a Captain for Continental Airlines. Flossie was incredibly proud of each of her four children.

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Continental was a high class airline from the 1934 to 2012. On Frank's last leg of his last flight, which was from Hawaii to Los Angeles, his whole family was invited to attend. During the flight an executive who was on the flight announced to the passengers that this was Frank's last flight and they celebrated with a beautiful cake for all on board.

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I too was very proud of my Uncle Frank, not only could he fly jet airplanes and even repair them, he also built a beautiful family cabin in Tabernash, Colorado, near Winter Park.