It’s not a phone call you ever want to get but it was a very characteristic of Frank to reach out in such a pragmatic way. He rang in May, because he had had bad news concerning his cancer. “I’m not sure I’m going to make it to September, do you think I should withdraw from the Studio Tour ?”.
After the initial shockwave passed, we decided that he should be in the brochure this year, whatever happened to him this summer. He even cracked a ‘dead or alive’ joke, though I felt more like crying than laughing.
Sadly, so very sadly, Frank passed away last week, and our thoughts go out to his wife Carole, his family and his friends and neighbours. And we are very glad to have him in our special 2020 brochure, and on our website. As Frank said himself “This is the one year I can be on the tour, and not be here any longer!”
We are going to miss that dry sense of humour, and his direct and thoughtful ways. I shall miss his kindness and willingness to add his expertise to a number of jobs over the years, both woodworking and electrical expertise was contributed to various projects.
We are very glad to show Frank’s beautiful work one more time as part of our tour – he was a stunning craftsman, often self-deprecating about his design skills, though I could never understand why, but confident in his craftmanship, whether wood turning, cabinetry or various garden projects completed for his beloved wife. His passing is a great loss to our community and our Tour.
