LIVING
LIKE A
KING
Even if I knew that tomorrow
the world would go to pieces,
I would still plant my apple tree.
— Martin Luther
I
fi rst heard about Frank King as a
regular fi xture at the Lincoln City
Community Center aquatics center. But
what made me really want to meet him is
when I was told I might not see him in the
pool as regularly for a while because Frank,
at 97, is taking piano lessons.
THINK
PAWSITIVE
COASTAL STORIES WITH MORE WAG
BY GRETCHEN AMMERMAN
“I live each day at a time and it keeps
adding up,” he said. “I’ve always liked
learning new things; that didn’t change just
because I get older.”
Swimming began as therapy for Frank
when he was acting as a caretaker for his
wife, Carma, who suff ered from Alzheimer’s
and passed away in 2008.
“I knew that to be able to take the best
possible care of my wife I needed to take
care of myself,” Frank said. “I needed to be
both mentally and physically hearty, so I
started to come to the pool as a respite and
a workout. I started out with water aerobics
in 2006, then I evolved to swimming laps
and never looked back.”
As a young man in the 1940s, Frank
learned quickly to take every day as a gift.
“I was in the Marine Corps as a radio
gunner for 15 months,” he said. “I was in
the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon
GRETCHEN AMMERMAN
Islands, that was the fi rst big off ensive in
World War II in the Pacifi c.”
His next steps, which took him to Utah,
were taken more from circumstance than
desire.
“I went to airborne radio operator school
in the military,” he said “When I was back
stateside I started out in communications
before transferring into air traffi c control.
After the war, jobs weren’t that plentiful and
I had the background for it so that’s what I
did.”
His true love though, was in written
communications.
“I was approaching 20 years in ATC
which is too long,” he said. “I had been
taking all the journalism classes I could
get, so I started freelancing in 1960. I
started writing for the Deseret News,
FAA Publications, Aviation News out of
Washington D.C. and a bunch of other
publications.”
Th at experience opened a new door
for Frank and brought him to Oregon
in 1977 to work in the Army Corps of
Engineers Public Aff airs Offi ce in Portland
representing the Pacifi c Northwest and
Alaska.
Frank retired from that position in 1984,
moved to the coast and started fi shing.
“Th at’s all I did for a year,” he said.
“Th en I was off ered a job at the Statesman
Journal in Salem. I did all my stories on a
little TRS-80 typewriter, which had a word
processor but no spell check or thesaurus; I
had to phone all my stories in for a while. I
enjoyed that job more than anything else I
ever did. I’m a fi rm believer that everyone
rises to their own level of incompetence,
and that’s what I had been doing before.”
Now fully retired, Frank’s time in the
pool and on the keyboards breaks up his
time with the other thing that gives him
joy; the family that includes children from
his fi rst wife, June, who died in 1960 and a
step-son from his wife, Carma.
“I’ve lost two daughters,” Frank said.
“But I have two still living: Melanie who
lives in Imbler just outside of La Grande
and Lisa who lives in Eugene. I’m very close
with both of them. Mike was Carma’s son
from before we married, but in my heart
he’s defi nitely my son and he lives next door
to me now, we’re also really close. He’s a
Vietnam vet, typical hippie with a ponytail.”
Th e family also includes Frank’s nine
grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and
three great-great-grandchildren.
“Every Th anksgiving, Melanie comes
down and rents a house and puts on a
dinner,” Frank said. “Th ere are usually about
20 to 25 of us.”
Frank credits his family for a large part
of his longevity:
“Th e more love you have in your life the
longer you are going to live,” he said.
Frank also stays busy as a member
of the senior citizen singing group the
Lincolnaires, who entertain at retirement
communities, such as Hillside Place and
Lakeview Senior Living.
“We perform golden oldies and folk,” he
said. “My solo is ‘Paper Doll.’”
Frank is truly good company; his mind
is still extremely sharp as is his wit, but he
doesn’t take anything for granted. After
enduring all my compliments about his
approach to life and what an inspiration
he is, he left me with this parting piece of
wisdom:
“Growing old ain’t for sissies.”
oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • December 13, 2019 • 5