Remembering Frank Slaymaker

Frank was a member of our community at Holy Trinity for over forty five years and passed away a week ago at the age of 96. We are compiling here a collection of fond memories of Frank from his friends.

" The Times They Are A-Changin' .....Frank never changed. A hand reaching out, a glint in his eye, a smile on his face, a story to tell – a gentle man -  A GENTLEMAN."

“I first met Frank when I was about 19 years old, and through my father; he and Frank had both spent time in Iran so they had a lot to talk about. I got to know Frank better once I moved to Nice. He was one of those people who it is a pleasure and a privilege to meet in one's lifetime: a gentleman in every sense, charming, kind and good humoured, fascinating to talk to and modest about his achievements (which included mapping much of Iran from the air and being the Shah's personal pilot). It was a joy to spend time with Frank as he was always cheerful, laughing and full of fun”.

“Frank was always so optimistic and good humoured, and ready with an amusing anecdote or interesting piece of information.  I never ever saw him look upset or impatient.  A lovely man altogether”.

“Not a lot of people know this but Frank was quite a fine dancer! He had been known to do a soft shoe shuffle around the living room with Pari at Christmastime (after a sherry or two), but his real footwork flair became evident at the Bicentenary Scottish Tea Dance held in the church garden in June 2022. While most of us struggled to master the steps of a ‘barn dance’, Frank was ably leading Niamh O’Sullivan around the car park putting the rest of us to shame! All this was to the bemusement of his wife Pari who commented that her husband was dancing with all the ladies, leaving her at a table soaking up the sunshine!!”

"I was born in Leominster, England and went to the same school as Frank. My brother played rugby in the Grammar school with Frank whose uncle was a Baptist (as was all my family); this uncle was a Deacon with my father and they also did business together in the town. Frank's cousin Freda used to play the organ and accompanied me when I sang solos. When we first moved to France and came along to the weekday Eucharist, Frank recognised me and he greeted me at the 'Sign of Peace', asking me where I came from in the UK!"

“Frank was an amazing supporter of sports and had a very wide knowledge of most sports and I remember when Frank, Ted Dexter and I gave talks on sport in the Parish Hall to the British Association. Frank could have spoken on any of the three topics but it was decided that Ted would handle Cricket, I chose Golf and Frank spoke about Football; it was very well received and given a really good reception”.

"Ah Frank, there was always a twinkle in your eye. You were always ready for a joke or a spot of good-natured banter. Having grown up in the same part of England near the welsh border I loved to hear of your childhood memories in that familiar regional accent, relating your stories of matches at Worcester Cricket ground in the 1950's and 60's. Frank was a man to raise the spirits if ever there was, and a man who was so devoted to his church here and who contributed so much to it over the years."

"Once when I was talking with Frank and Ted Dexter the conversation came round to a former England cricketer who had been through a bad time suffering from clinical depression. Ted spoke with great feeling about the need to better support those who suffer from mental health problems and this emboldened me to say that it was a subject close to my heart as I had suffered from depression and knew how difficult it was to live with and how little understood. It is not something I would say to most people but Frank's response was so kind and understanding and he was very supportive to me; I will always remember Frank with gratitude for that. On a funnier note, after Ted had gone back to England I told Frank that while I admired Ted as a cricketer I thought he had done a terrible job as the Chairman of the Cricket Test Selectors, leaving out some of our best players. I had never said this to Ted but Frank roared with laughter and 'You should have told him. He would have loved that!' I wasn't so sure though!"

"I first met Frank about 10 years ago after a Sunday service. Later, when I met Ted Dexter I agreed to take over the role of Holy Trinity Treasurer from Ted. Frank and I used to meet two or three times a week at that time; Frank was a former treasurer here and told me the history of all the treasurers from when he first joined the congregation. Frank had trained as an accountant on leaving school at 18 so he was an ideal candidate for the role."

"Military aircraft have always been a passion of mine; as Frank was ex-RAF we talked often over the years about many types of aircraft and we would lend each other books on the subject. I told him that my father had worked building aircraft during the war at Gloster Aircraft Company (GAC) at Staverton in Gloucestershire. This led Frank to tell me about his conversion training, from the 'de Havilland Mosquito' to the 'EE Canberra' via the 'Gloster Meteor'; I suggested that perhaps he had flown a Meteor that my father had helped to build. Later Frank told me the story of when he was the Shah of Iran’s pilot: he said that the Shah was a good pilot so sometimes Frank allowed him to take control of the aircraft. On one occasion as the Shah was preparing to land, Frank realised that the Shah was going to overshoot the runway and crash, so Frank calmly said to the Shah “I’ve got it” and grabbed the controls, flew around again and landed safely. Frank said that he had never spoke of that event to anyone, but more than fifty years later he told me. Frank had great integrity and loyalty."

"Once when a group of us were having a coffee I said to Frank, “Do you know Frank, as you are twenty years older than me you could be my father?” He replied instantly, “Well, I can assure you that I am not!”

"When I met Frank and Ted Dexter for coffee for the first time, I was told that Ted had introduced a game of tossing a coin to decide who pays for the coffees. Sometimes there were four of us in the group. It was very rare for Ted to lose and in one period Ted had not paid in nine weeks. The photo shows the last day that Ted joined us for coffee before returning to live in England. Ted lost the toss that day and had to pay for the coffees which delighted Frank (as you can see from this photo").

Frank (on the right) with Ted Dexter

Below is a poem much appreciated by Frank, written by a Spitfire pilot.........

High Flight by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee Jr.

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.

Where never lark, or even eagle flew —

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

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