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Delavan Fire Department:
News - Frank Clark was unique Delavan Fire Chief
FRANK CLARK WAS UNIQUE DELAVAN FIRE CHIEFFrank Clark served 30 years on the Delavan Fire Department including three as chief. A World War I Navy veteran, he was aboard the cruiser San Diego when it was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. He clung to a bobbing barrel in the Atlantic Ocean for four hours until rescued. At age 52, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II.
A house painter by occupation, Clark possessed strong leadership qualities and was prominent on the Delavan scene for over 60 years, especially as a member of the fire department and American Legion. His productive life terminated when he froze to death following an apparent fall during a cold wave.
He was born March 27, 1892, in New Lisbon, the son of Wade and Esther Williams Clark. A brother, Delbert, was deaf and for that reason the family moved to Delavan in 1899 to enroll him at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf. Frank attended grammar and high school in Delavan but dropped out prior to graduation to pursue a livelihood as a house painter. With no fear of heights, he was frequently hire to paint water towers, flag poles and other tall structures. For several years he lived in a frame house at 816 Michigan St.
Shortly after the U.S. entered World War I, Frank enlisted in the U.S. Navy, April 9, 1917. Following training at Great Lakes and San Francisco, he was promoted to coxswain and assigned duty aboard the cruiser “San Diego.” After traveling through the Panama Canal, his ship made several trips across the Atlantic from New York to England and Ireland. While only about 50 miles out of New York on July 18, 1918, the San Diego was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. Because the ship’s electrical system was knocked out, lifeboats could not be lowered.
Following an order to abandon ship, Frank jumped overboard and fortunately was able to cling to a floating barrel. While bobbing in the rolling waves he saw another crew member treading water and invited him to share the barrel. The grateful sailor was Alden See, a 1916 Delavan High School graduate who later became a successful lumber dealer in Renton, Wash. After spending four hours in the ocean, the pair was picked up by an oil tanker and returned to the Port of New York.
Frank was immediately reassigned duty aboard a troop transport as a Boatswain Mate 2/c. After only a few weeks aboard his new ship, an influenza epidemic broke out, claiming the lives of 37 crew members and passengers. After 28 months of active duty, Frank was discharged Aug. 19, 1919, and returned to Delavan to resume his career as a painter-decorator. He married Mabel MacKinzie, Oct. 12, 1920. Their first child, a daughter, was named Alden (Audie) for Frank’s shipmate who shared the barrel following the sinking of the San Diego during WWI.
Probably the most serious fire during his DFD regime was the March 28, 1936 blaze at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf which destroyed the dining hall, staff living quarters and store rooms and threatened to spread to the entire complex. He also responded to the fires which destroyed the Hetzel Milling Company twice within a three-year period. Frank was extremely agile on ladders and roofs. On several occasions, he was treated for excessive smoke inhalation while engaged in fire fighting. In 1940, he was elected chief of the Delavan Fire Department and served through 1943 when he resigned to attempt enlistment in the armed forces during World War II at age 52. Turned down by the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force due to age, the Coast Guard, impressed with his WWI record, enlisted him for a training course in marine navigation at its base in New London, Conn., where he reported for active duty, Jan. 11, 1944.
With most of the other students half his age, Frank began an intense course in nautical science. He had not studied in a classroom for 30 years and the intense curriculum, especially the Morse code requirements, proved too much for him to cope with and he reluctantly accepted an honorable discharge. Returning to Delavan, he didn’t leave the house for several months as he was so despondent over not assuming a combat role in the war. His son, George, served in the Navy during WWII and was aboard the battleship “Colorado” when it took several hits from Japanese coastal guns during the invasion of the Marianas Islands in 1944, inflicting 198 causalities including 48 killed.
Frank was a charter member of the Delavan American Legion Post, Served as post commander, 1928-29, and for 33 years climbed the Civil War monument in Spring Grove Cemetery on Memorial Day to place the wreath prior to the firing squad salute and taps. He also played on the original Delavan Red Devils football team and city baseball team.
For many years his family lived at 1253 Racine St. In retirement, Frank and his wife lived in a mobile home at the north end of Third Street, across from Old Settler’s cemetery. On Dec. 10, 1962, a cold wave hit Delavan and the temperature dropped near zero. In late evening, Frank took his dog out for a short walk. He had a chronic back problem and may have slipped in the snow, losing consciousness. Early the following morning a neighbor, Mrs. Roy Hollister, discovered Frank’s lifeless, frozen body with the dog still standing vigil over it.
His funeral was conducted by Rev. John Francis of the United Methodist Church followed by burial with military rites in Spring Grove Cemetery. Survivors included his wife, who died in 1974, two daughters, Alden (Audie) Fleming, who presently resided in Delavan, and Elizabeth Morgan (Franklin), who died in 1994, and two sons, George, who died in 1992, and Wilbert, current resident of Billerica, mass. He was also survived by 14 grandchildren.
Article courtesy of the Delavan Enterprise
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