Sunday, June 15, 2025
Sunday Reflection: Mr. Frakes
Like many people, I grew up in a family that was intertwined with another family-- the Frakeses and Oslers share a cabin, a complex set of friendships and memories going back over half a century (which is when this photo was taken outside the "Holidome" at the Holiday Inn in Ironwood Michigan).
Jack Frakes-- who was always known to me as "Mr. Frakes"-- passed away in April, two years after his best friend, my dad. One irony is that both were named John, but went by Jack and Spike, respectively, in their intertwined professional careers. He was different than my dad in some important ways, and that was good-- it doesn't add much value if your second dad is the same as the first one, after all. I am headed to Detroit for his memorial today.
You can read his obituary here. It does a great job of describing so much about him, but (inevitably) it doesn't quite contain what I will miss the most, which is his reliable presence.
