Frank Aukeman or Uncle Frank as we knew him followed his parents to his final reward this past week. Like his father, sister, and two brothers before him he left this earth in May. Seems like an irony to me that all these that grew up on the farm would leave us during the month of planting and greening, during one of farming's busiest months.

Frank, like his six brothers and two sisters worked with his hands. In a 2011 Art Prize submission he described himself as "a Zutphen farm boy turned lowly carpenter". He didn't say builder or developer or contractor, rather "lowly carpenter". No doubt the connection to a lowly carpenter from Bethlehem who lived 2000 years ago is intentional as he further stated: "to me God is the master artist. Look about you."

As with most of my seven uncles I worked with or for Frank some when I was in high school and college. I spent one entire day performing the task of a nail gun three stories up on a roof. Not using a gun mind you, but placing and pounding nails by hand. Generators were pretty rare back then, and power hadn't yet been run to that house. In another project I wired re-rod for the structure of a bank vault. I learned something with that project: Don't bother trying to break in, just don't, trust me on this one.

On another project where a grocery store was being expanded we had to take down the old end wall now trapped in the center of the store. We had to break loose every block and slide it down a board then stack it in the old dump truck for 'some unspecified future project.' For those who don't know the Dutch, they can be Very tight with their money. Rumor has it the invention of copper wire happened when two 'Hollanders' got in a tussle over a penny! If there were Dutch Jedi they would have said of Frank: "The klomp of the wooden shoe is strong with this one!" When Frank went to a golf course in FL where you pay one fee and golf as many holes as you want he got his monies worth!! ?

Like his brothers, Frank was a very strong guy and when given a bat, the ball was going far. I remember playing '5 Bucks and up' at Uncle Bills farm one Sunday when all the uncles were there. The uncles decided they wanted to join and suddenly we found ourselves running off the yard, through the garden and into the hay field to catch the ball. It became a "who can wail it the furthest" contest, and it did get wailed! Frank and Owen were competing for that title.

Frank owned a small dozer for a few years. Wait, did I say years? I think it was decades! I drove it a fair bit at uncle Will's dairy farm and back then it was already a bit tired. In later years Frank would keep a large metal bar around to pry the tracks back on that thing as they constantly fell off. He had a dump truck too, a tired old dog that we hauled sand with from time to time but never in a hurry.

He also had this trailer to haul that dozer and basically anything and everything else. The trailer was hugely heavy and I never recall a time when it had brakes of any note or a full set of working lights. And he would haul that trailer with anything that had a hitch including a mini-van! 21 years ago Frank was going to build our new home in Middleville but he retired just before. In many of his retirement years he collected old farm equipment, horse drawn stuff, and our property had several pieces. He arranged to work with my father to come and get the stuff and was going to bring that big ole trailer to pick up a couple thousand pounds of stuff with that Mini Van! Dad wouldn't let him and used his 3/4 ton big block Suburban and even that struggled with the load, the minivan would never have left our road.

I seem to recall a story of him dumping a garage off that trailer in the middle of the road near his house some years back. Just a rumor though. :-) He was a master of getting 10 lbs of, um, 'stuff' into a 5 lb bucket.

Much of that old equipment got placed around the house, in and surrounded by the gardens he enjoyed maintaining. Literally millions of folks have seen them too due to the location next to the I196 expressway between Hudsonville and Zeeland. Signs have been posted there in support of President Bush, and our troops for at least a decade.

Personally I remember his powerful voice and it seemed like in every get-together he was always laughing. I'm not sure he was making a joke, recalling a prank, or planning one.

Today we remember an uncle, a father, a brother, a husband. Today we know he's used that powerful hand to greet his father Julian, brothers Carl and Will, and those strong arms to hug mother Agnes, sister Thelma, wife Anita and daughter Julianne.

- DrF