Frank Conlon . . . A Tribute
By Rebecca Carroll
I don’t know when I first came to know Frank, but it seems like a hundred years ago even though it was probably in the 1970s. My first husband Doug worked with him in the coal mines, and he later became his business partner, a partnership that lasted until Frank’s death.
If you met Frank, you never forgot him. He had a cheerful greeting and smile for everyone. He was a great kidder, joker, a joyful person. When talking to Frank, you might think him loud and boisterous, but he really wasn’t. He was quiet and reserved, making his presence known in little ways – like bragging on a grandchild or one of his children. He observed and made his comments known but not in a showy way.
Frank’s trademark was that he often went shirtless. If he had a shirt on, you knew it must be really cold outside or he was at church or a wedding maybe. Once you got to know Frank, the shirtless thing was, well, it was just Frank, and you liked him so much it didn’t matter.
Frank was a fixture at the local ballgames. His kids were gifted athletes; his son Brian was on the baseball team that brought home a state title in 1998. Frank quietly cheered them on, supporting them through victories and defeats. And now his grandkids, also stars on the athletic fields, will miss his loving face at those games. But Frank will be there in spirit.
Frank was a hard worker. Born in New York, Frank somehow ended up in the tiny hamlet of Coalfield, Tennessee. Somewhere along the way—I don’t know the story—he met a Coalfield girl, Pat Keathley, and married her. He worked in the coal mines in the 1970s when coal was king in the area and then teamed up with Doug Brooks, where he worked as a mechanic and expert on heavy equipment, transmissions particularly. It was hard work. 30+ years of it. In the meantime, he raised a family – 5 children and now several grandchildren and great grandchildren. He and Pat also raised a sister-in-law and helped many others navigate through life. Frank was proud of his kids and grandkids, not in a bragging way, just honest-to-goodness proud of them as people.
His family is his legacy, easy enough to see. Over the years, his children’s love and respect for both Frank and their mother was evident in their conversations just as it was in their final eulogies to their father. In Coalfield on Thursday evening, May 23, 2013, his heritage stretched to the large crowd that gathered to pay final tribute.
I will miss you Frank Conlon.
Sunnybrooktales 