Henry E.(Hank, Bud) Frantzen passed away peacefully Tuesday, September 27, 2005 in Ogden following a heart attack. The 32-year resident of North Logan was 88.

Born and raised in the Chicago area during WWI and growing up in the “lull” between the wars I and II provided Hank with street smarts, common sense, and a solid dose of self-reliance. His mother, Hedvig, died shortly after giving birth to Baby Helen, and Hank, older sister Edna, and younger siblings Bill and Mildred (Peggy) were housed part-time in an orphanage, as their dad couldn’t manage a job and 5 youngsters.

The time between the wars was not really a “lulll” as Chicago’s response to Prohibition was “speak-easys” and bathtub gin, made famous by the likes of Al Capone. It’s rumored that Hank was Ralph Capone’s (Al’s brother) favorite caddy (much to Hank’s dismay), and Hank claimed to get to the garage on Clark Street with his friends the day after the St. Valentine’s Massacre in 1929.

Hank and his wife, Jacqueline Dean, were married in October 1941 just two months shy of the attack on Pearl Harbor. His poor eyesight kept him from having to fire a rifle, but it also gave him the opportunity to excel in mechanics. While little brother Billy was hacking through the jungles of New Guinea, Hank and the other engine mechanics from the 5th Air Force kept the Mitchell B-25 bombers flying between Australia and the islands of the South Pacific as the allies pushed towards Japan in 1944 and ’45.

Hank returned home and opened a paint and wallpaper store in Olney, Illinois with his father-in-law, Glen Dean. The business faltered following Glen’s failing health and Hank, Jackie, and toddlers Jeffry, Dennis, and Edith moved north, returning to Chicago’s western suburbs.

Good with his hands and the ability to fix about any gadget made, Hank was the shoe-in when a job in Maintenance for the Pepperidge Farm Bakery in Downers Grove, Illinois opened up. He stayed with Downers Bakery until 1972 when he learned that Pepperidge was building a new facility in Richmond, Utah and quickly asked for a transfer….coincidentally, Dennis and Edith had moved with their spouses to Logan in 1970 to attend USU. Hank and Jackie followed Brigham Young’s path from Illinois to Utah, and remarked at the sight of Cache Valley “Is this the place?”

Hank retired in 1982, but continued to remain active in his church. Hank was a Presbyterian Church member since 1946-although raised as a Lutheran. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge AF & AM fifty plus years, and several Veterans organizations: VFW & American Legion. He also volunteered at Logan Regional Hospital for a few years in the print shop.

Once you cracked his hard Danish exterior, you found a quick smile and a warm heart; he was truly one of the “good guys”.

Hank was preceded in death by his parents, William and Hedvig, and by his sister Edna Gleason and brother Bill Frantzen. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Jackie, and by his sisters, Peg Alderson and Helen Owens, sons Jeffry (wife Sue Zwit), Dennis (wife Carolyn) Edith Gustafson (husband Donald), and granddaughters, Jackie Blumberg, Jenny Blumberg, and Kirstin Frantzen.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 1, (two weeks before Hank and Jackie’s 64th wedding anniversary) at the First Presbyterian Church, 12 South 200 West, Logan, Utah 84321 (435)752-0871. Condolences may be extended online at Nelson Funeral Home.