In Memoriam - Frank Reis
Johns father, Frank, was very well known and very well loved by all of our customers, co-workers, vendors, and extended family here at Golden Hammer. We always listened to his comical and heroing stories from WWII and fishing back in the day to his never ending praise for his son and his building talents. Our suppliers knew that Frank liked his lumber tied down a certain way, maybe a "knot tying" thing from his fishing days, now that we think about it. The guys in the yard were constantly in a quandary because they knew that Frank was set in his ways and wanted to load his own truck, but also knew that John didn't want him to load the truck in fear that he would overdo it and get hurt. Everyone kept an eye out for Frank and took care of him .....as much as he would allow them to.
The guys at the various dumpsites, from here to Dennis, recognized that Frank knew when he had a heavy load or a light load and they had to charge him accordingly. Frank knew his job well and he knew exactly what we should pay whether he was dumping or picking up. Everyone had to be on their toes when he showed up, but not in an ugly way, they all loved him.
He would go anywhere, anytime. He loved driving the big truck and taking care of whatever John needed, whenever he needed it. There have been times when he took the road at 3am en route to Vermont or New Hampshire to pick up stock in order to keep a job moving forward. Boston, Worcester, Fall River, you name it, he just wanted to know what time he had to be there and he was there, not matter where "there" turned out to be. His energy and willingness was priceless. He actively worked until November 2005, when he slowly came to the realization that his body just wouldn't and couldn't go where he needed or wanted it to go. At that point, he could be seen driving around in the Golden Hammer truck "supervising".
Frank was always so proud of John, his accomplishments, success, talents, and character, not to mention his grandchildren, and he was a staple of Golden Hammer for many years.
Sadly, Frank left us on February 21, 2008, with John at his side. What a gift that was, to be there with him for that final moment. He will forever be in our hearts and in the passenger seat of every Golden Hammer vehicle.........supervising.
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