The Eulogy for Frank Lineberry

The following eulogy was written by Brother Bill Loehning, pledge class Kappa 1967, and read at the Celebration of Life that was held on June 10th, 2021. Scroll to the end of the eulogy to see the video that was made in Frank’s memory.

For Frank.

If you look up gentleman in Webster’s dictionary, it’s defined as a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man- 

For those of us here today, when we look up gentleman or gentle man, we see a picture of Frank, with that great smile and twinkle in those blue eyes, and that full head of silver hair, that many of us were jealous of! He embodied the term, gentleman. I never have known a kinder, gentler man.

In Frank’s senior year at Neptune HS, he was voted “most friendly and most courteous” in his class- a mantle he wore his entire life.

In 1959, my family made the big move from a rented house on Riverside drive to 142 Hillside Dr. In SRH (Shark River Hills) – 2 houses from the Lineberry family- our families immediately bonded- my mom and dad began a lifelong friendship with Kay and Frank Sr., as did Frank and me. Nancy, Frank’s younger sister, all red hair and freckles was there also- if I looked at Nancy, she would turn scarlet and run in the house!! And I know that she is blushing right now!!

So began a friendship that would go on for 62 years. Other than Doris, my bride of 47 years, I believe I spent more time with Frank than anyone else I have ever known- we walked to SRH grammar school together every day- then middle school, then Neptune HS . Being a year older than me, I followed him to Newark State (now Kean University), where we became fraternity brothers- he was a mentor to me and I looked to him often for advice and guidance. Frank was a gifted athlete- at Neptune HS, he captained the bowling team, played 2nd base for the championship baseball ‘65 team, later to be inducted in the Neptune HS Hall of Fame. At Kean, he lettered in varsity baseball, was the quarterback on our fraternity football team and pitcher on our softball team- he had a cannon for an arm- I can honestly say, from ping pong to baseball, I don’t think I ever beat Frank once at any sport!

Frank was made to be a teacher, coach, and mentor- whether it was in the classroom as a teacher, an administrator as a principal, umpiring a baseball game, or overseeing student teachers- he excelled at it- mentoring and teaching was his calling. It came naturally to him- 

Frank was a natural leader, a quiet leader- he could walk into a situation and quietly take control- some years ago, I was speaking to a guy who coached a lot of the games Frank umpired.

He said “I always love it when Frank umpired my games- why, I asked?” He said “Frank was calm, in control, and almost always correct in his calls and when he wasn’t sure, he asked the other umpire for help- his ego never got in his way!”

Reflecting on that comment as I thought about speaking today and I thought, that’s a succinct description of Frank’s leadership- calm, controlled, and almost always right, but no ego involved- that was Frank!

When you lose someone that’s very close to you, that you have history with, you also lose part of yourself- you hear a song, or a phrase or something that triggers a memory in your mind and you say to yourself, I have to call that person, but they’re not there anymore. For me, I have so many memories of Frank and me, things that only he would remember and while it’s sad to know he is not physically there anymore- the other side of that coin is that, that memory is what keeps him alive. Whatever that event is that triggers a memory — that is what will always keep Frank alive, in our hearts and our minds. I lost my dad 57 years ago, and ironically, he was eulogized in this building, by Frank’s dad- so, especially for you, his children and grandchildren, trust me when I say he will always be there with you as my dad is with me all these years!

Eight weeks ago today, on Frank and Syd’s 33rd wedding anniversary- he and I drove up together from Boynton Beach to visit a fraternity brother up above Tampa. It was a 4 hour drive each way. It was probably the most time we had spent together alone in years- we talked about everything from sports, old friends, our escapades at the Cracker Barrel, the little general store where we worked together, from HS to college, to politics, and everything in between

But no matter what we discussed, the conversation always came back to family and when Frank or “pop” as the grandkids call him, talked about his family- he just lit up- that twinkle in his blue eyes would sparkle- he talked at length about Syd, his bride of 33 years and what a wonderful life they have had together-all the travel and fun things they have done together- but mostly about their children and grandchildren-  whether it was Connor marching in the high school band, Alyssa singing and playing the piano, Brandon in the musical “Little Mermaids”, Liam playing baseball; Ella playing lacrosse or Maddy at her dance recitals, he went into amazing detail about the grandkids //and of course, the big kids. Erin, he was so proud that you followed in his footsteps as an educator, Jamy- he would brag about your culinary talents and then point to his stomach as proof positive of his statement- Brian, Bethany, Chris, Sandi, and Scott- how proud he was of all of you.

Frank was not a talkative person, of course with Syd or me around; he didn’t get much of an opportunity! But, listening to him that day, it was so crystal clear that his collective family, was the focal point of his life.

A great testament to Frank’s life is looking out at those here today- not only family but I see faces here from grammar school , NHS, Kean University and some 20 or 30 Sigma Beta Tau brothers, honoring their friend of 50+ years.

At the end of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dicken’s, he said of Scrooge- “he became as good a man, as this old town has ever known!”

I believe the same could be said of Frank- in 62 years of friendship, I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. More importantly, I never heard anyone say a bad word about him … a great legacy.

Rest in peace my friend- you will be missed, but never forgotten.