Tim Frank

)We were the “next to the richest” people in Griswold, IA (a town of about 900 people). Just to clarify that, our next door neighbors, the Rudins, were the richest people in our town and we lived next door, they had a pool and they hired me to be the pool boy, and our family could swim there almost daily.
Mr Rudin was very active in the Republican party and I got involved in my first political race in 1964 when I was 15 working for Barry (In Your Heart You Know He’s Right) Goldwater. He didn’t win nationally but he did win in my town. I got hooked and have been involved ever since.
When we moved to Spencer I jumped right into county GOP politics and started learning the campaign ropes from the seasoned veterans in our area.
Because Iowa hosts the first in the nation caucus, all of the hopefuls travel the state. In December of 1979 The county chair called and asked if I could meet with one of the candidates for dinner to advise him on how we thought he could get supporters from our area. We said yes, and when we got there we met George H. W. Bush.  He was VERY impressive, and probably the smartest person I had ever met.  He really listened to the us and we instantly joined his team, unfortunately he didn’t win Iowa, but He did in 1988.  O how I wish we would have had cellphone back then so I could have had a picture of that meeting.

When he was Vice-president, we went to hear him speak at the Spencer YMCA and sat in the front row. Erin and Joel each got to ask him a question and their questions and his answers were replayed on radio and mentioned in the newspaper. Erin asked what his favorite part of his job was – answer: “All the people!” Joel asked how many Secret Service men he traveled with – answer: “I’ll ask,” and he turned around and asked a Secret Service, and then said, “about 10!”

George W. Bush – we met him at the airport when he was running for President the first time – such a man of humility. He patiently posed for pictures with us, which we still treasure today.  I remember wanting to post the picture explaining that knowing me was the reason that he won, however that year it took more than a month to certify the victory so I had to wait patiently.

Because Iowa has the first in the nation caucus we also had a chance to see Vice President Walter Mondale, President Ronald Reagan, and Senator Bob Dole.  When Bob Dole came he went to our church and Joel and his men’s quartet sang the national anthem for him.

Gambling   School Bond Issues  Iowa Secretary of Agriculture

All State
2 or 3
Belmont
Dell job
Leah

Flute
Illinois State
Cornell
KU
College Dinner Time Phone Calls
Al

Mia TaDa
Joel & Erin Thunder Storms
Erin Marshmallow Cream Soap

Childhood Toys
Ukulele was my first musical instrument (with many more to follow). I taught myself to play, like I did with the guitar and trumpet later.
Cowboy Guns & caps and cowboy hats that were too big and had to be stuffed with Kleenex.
Chemistry Set – I was a science buff and I remember getting a small set and did all the experiments in the manual. I really wanted the big set that was in the Sears Christmas catalog. I never got it.
Dads Army Gear – Most of the boys of that time played “army”. We dressed up in clothes that were too big and put on the helmet and adding the canteens, and lunch kits to our belts. I remember the metal taste drinking out of the canteen it wasn’t pleasant. Reflecting on that, I can’t believe that my Dad drank out of that for years during WWII.
Airplane- I remember going to the football field and watching Barry Armentrout flying model airplanes. This was before remote control, they flew on two wires around in a circle. You could make them do loops and fly over the top. I just had to have one so I bought a kit and put it together. They were made our of balsa wood and had paper stretched and glued on the wings. We painted and “decorated” them and put an engine on them. The first plane flew only 2 times before I wrecked it. We also had one that was plastic and held together with rubber bands. We had fun crashing that one.

Bands

Beach Boys
Rolling Stones
Paul Reverie and the Raiders
Simon & Garfunkel
Peter Paul and Mary
Supremes
Neil Diamond
John Denver
Sly and the Family Stones

Childhood Books
Unfortunately, I don’t remember any childhood books except “Little Black Sambo” which is not appropriate now. Grandma Wagler always told us bible stories.
However as I got older I loved Black Beauty, Tom Sawyer, and the Hardy Boys (read all I could find. In the sixth grade we had a reading contest at the library and I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories and all the Perry Mason books by Erle Stanley Gardner, and won the summer contest. BTW Perry Mason went from print to movies and then black and white TV in the 50s and 60s.
Then I got hooked on biographies and that was the end of fiction in my life.

Mom & Dad

Jeff

Chris

Uncles
Dwight

Merton

Bud

I haven’t had too many interactions with famous people, but the ones that have been special to me are the following:

George H. W. Bush, when he was running for President and when he was Vice-president. We were fortunate to spend an entire evening with him. When he was Vice-president, we went to hear him speak at the Spencer YMCA and sat in the front row. Erin and Joel each got to ask him a question and their questions and his answers were replayed on radio and mentioned in the newspaper. Erin asked what his favorite part of his job was – answer: “All the people!” Joel asked how many Secret Service men he traveled with – answer: “I’ll ask,” and he turned around and asked a Secret Service, and then said, “about 10!”

George W. Bush – we met him at the airport when he was running for President the first time – such a man of humility. He patiently posed for pictures with us, which we still treasure today.  I remember wanting to post the picture explaining that knowing me was the reason that he won, however that year it took more than a month to certify the victory so I had to wait patiently.

Hakeem Olajuwon – NBA Basketball player – We were placed at the same table with him at a Japanese hibachi restaurant in Minneapolis. The Houston Rockets, his team, had just played the Minnesota Timberwolves, and he had come to this restaurant by himself for dinner. I remember him walking in the restaurant – and he was dressed in a beautiful suit and expensive shoes and was incredibly tall. I asked Poppy what he thought this man did. Poppy answered, “When you are that tall, you play basketball.” A few minutes later they called our names for our table and Hakeem Olajuwon – even though I didn’t recognize him in person, I immediately knew who he was as I had followed his college career and NBA career sports stories. He came to the US from Nigeria for college and was very, very good. He was a soft-spoken individual and stayed at our table for a short time before a Timberwolves player spotted him and invited him to go to their table. It was pretty thrilling for me.

Nikita Khrushchev – This man was the dictator of the Soviet Union in the 1950’s and part of the 60’s. He came to the U.S. and threatened to “bury us” in a speech at the United Nations, and then toured Iowa, coming to Iowa State University. He was in a parade of sorts right in front of Grandpa Hazen’s office, and I remember his car passing so close to my feet that I thought I was going to get run over. He was fat and bald, smiling and waving. But we were all afraid of him.

Because Iowa has the first in the nation caucus we also had a chance to see Vice President Walter Mondale, President Ronald Reagan, and Senator Bob Dole.  When Bob Dole came he went to our church and Joel and his men’s quartet sang the national anthem for him.

Liza Minnelli – When my brother Chris was appearing on Broadway in “Fool Moon” I was supposed to meet him at the stage door and when I did, I bumped into a lady I said excuse me and it was Liza Minnelli.

As I look back on my life I have discovered many events and people that influenced my career path.

My Dad was self employed as a hog buyer for the Omaha packing houses. I don’t remember him working very hard, but I do remember that he didn’t work 9-5.
I began my entrepreneurship by doing lots of odd jobs for my grandmothers. I remember getting paid the same for picking up something at the store or digging out a 20 year old lilac bush. The good news was that I always had money for anything I needed. I always had money where my brothers didn’t.
When I was 11 I started mowing yards for my grandparents ($ .75) and my uncle who owned the funeral home (he paid $1.75). I decided to expand my business and I needed to buy my own mower. Mom and I went to Sears in Atlantic and bought one for $29. I had $9 and I borrowed $20 from my grandmother Wagler. I paid her back by mowing her yard. The great thing was I would mow her yard she would give me $1 credit and then give me a $ .25 tip. I mowed about 10 yards for the next 3 summers.
My first outside job was with Tom Sharples as a surveyor’s assistant. I held the stick so the surveyor could make sure the tiling in his farm went downhill. I’ll never forget that check for $31 ($1.25/hour). He hired me for a few other jobs.
My dream job at that time was to work at Ross’s Super Valu grocery store. There I learned to work hard, never sit still and that the customer is always right.

College Leadership
Tom Hyland
Own

awn mowing business
Surveyor
Ross
Ames Fruit & Grocery
PBR Rep
Northwest Mutual
Provident Mutual
Hawkeye Bancorp
Frank Insurance
Chapman Realty
Frank Realty
Beacon Microcenter
Computer Systems
NetStar Internet
Emagine Marketing
The OxyStore
Frank Marketers

didn’t have a car in high school, however my Dad bought a new car EVERY year. They were always very plain Chevrolets and usually white. Also he never put 10,000 miles on any car he owned because we never went anywhere any distance away. Fortunately for me my junior year of high school there was a strike by the Chevy autoworkers and the only car that came in was a 1965 Chevy Super Sport with bucket seats and floor shift and he took that car instead of waiting for his ordered vehicle.
So, my Saturday night car for that full year was one of the coolest cars on the street.
I never had any desire to own fancy cars so most of the cars I drove were pretty plain. My first car was a 1959 Plymouth Belvedere, black with big fins. I called my Dad from ISU and asked him to get the $125 that I had in savings ($50 that I won in a drawing when I was 12 at “bank night” at the movie theater) and find a car for me. So the first time I saw it was when I got home for summer break, and it was all shined up and really beautiful.
Mary and I had a 1969 for Maverick that Dad bought new that year for $1,995. He sold it to me in 1971 and Mary was rear-ended in the fall of 1973 and it was totaled.
The rest of the cars had no great stories to tell.

Growing up

Once a year we went to Omaha to the Cinerama which was introduced in the 50’s which was 3 synchronized projectors on a curved screen (movies were a big deal in our family). Aside from Sound of Music, none of them were memorable.
Colorado
Trip to Rocky Mountain Park – One of the memories that I have of that trip was walking around Bear Lake in my new cowboy boots and ending up with blisters.
Black Hills
Great trip and I remember having bad hay fever even when I went down in the Cave of the Winds.
Chicago
We took the train into see uncle Bud and we saw all the museums and I think that is where I got my love for museums.
Okoboji
We spent a week in Okoboji at a small cabin.
Then I got married and within 3 years I visited more countries than US States.

Early married

later Travels

Turkey