In Memoriam - Frank Tyger

Frank was a great cartoonist. When my dad would show me his cartoons I would laugh and be inspired to draw something. My Dad loved to read his articles. When I was old enough to understand he would tell me about them.

When my Dad told me how Uncle Frank was before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease I understood that he didn’t seem the same as he had been before the Parkinson’s. But he was the Uncle Frank that I knew from Greenwood House.

I loved to go visit my Uncle Frank at the Greenwood House. Every time I would go see Uncle Frank my visit would be interrupted multiple times for either therapy or him having to get medicines and it was sad to see him have to do those things every day. I did like to go to physical therapy with him and we would hit a balloon back and forth to keep it up. I had fun doing the balloon game - but Uncle Frank had even more fun! Sometimes during Uncle Frank’s therapy we would see who could pull the band to help your strength. The different color bands represented increasing strengths. We would both have fun doing that and the other activities and things.

During one of my visits he gave me a hat that had the words "Trenton Times" on it. One day when I wore the hat it kept slipping. So we tightened it as tight as it could go. It still kept slipping, so I gave it back to him. Now I have that hat today with me right here.

My sister Alexis remembers that when she was very young Uncle Frank would sit with her and draw animals, figures, anything she would ask him to draw.

My Mom told me the story about the time that Uncle Frank came over for dinner and she made a roast chicken. He ate a lot that day, and was thankful for the meal which my Mom thought was just a simple chicken dinner. But then he gave her a great compliment. Uncle Frank said that it reminded him of a meal his own Mother would make.

I loved him very much and I will never forget him. He would always make me laugh or smile when he would tell a joke. About a week before he died my grandmother asked him, "Frank, are you hungry?" His reply was, "Yes, could I have some steak?" My grandmother couldn’t get him steak because he wasn’t able to eat foods like steak and other hard foods like that. On the day he died, my dad said, "Maybe Uncle Jim came down from heaven and said come on Frank they are having a steak buffet in heaven." I say "Uncle Jim" because he died last month and he is in heaven.