Frank Hiatt Strange

Frank H. Strange, Jr., 93, of Mount Pleasant, SC and Sherborn, MA, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, September 21, 2013. A Funeral Service will be held Tuesday, September 24, 2013 in the J. HENRY STUHR, INC. MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL , 1494 Mathis Ferry Road, at 11:00 am. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Interment services will be held later in Dell Park Cemetery, Natick, MA.

Frank was the son of the late Frank H. Strange, Sr. and Helen (Hadley) Strange of Natick, MA. Frank grew up in Natick, and after completion of High School he was proud to serve his country in the Army during WWII. Like many young men of his generation he altered the year of his birth in order to join the National Guard early. He received recognition for his service and skills during the war, but he was humble about those outstanding acts and did not talk too much about them. After serving in WWII he returned home and married his beloved wife of 46 years, Barbara (Church). Barbara preceded Frank in death in March of 1990.

Frank received a diploma in engineering from ITT Technical Institute and, like his father before him, made his career as a self employed carpenter for over 50 years. Many homes in the neighborhoods of Natick, Sherborn, Dover, Holliston, Medway, and Millis bear his craftsmanship in some way. There was very little he could not make out of wood. If he needed a tool to complete a task, he rarely bought it. Instead, he made it. He crafted working guitars and violins as well as many keepsake items. Frank built his final home at roughly the age of 60. That home was in Millis MA. If you ever travel down Bullard Lane, you will see the stone wall he built by hand using materials that came from his own land. At the age of 80 he re-roofed that home by himself. When asked by family and locals if they could help he declined and explained when he designed the home he built the roof with just the right pitch that he would be able to replace it on his own. In addition to woodworking Frank was also a very talented painter. His paintings capture some of his favorite New England places from Massachusetts historical sites to the Lakes of New Hampshire and the Sea Coast of Maine. In addition to these accomplishments, he was a professional stamp collector, Cub Master of the Cub Scouts in Sherborn, Building Inspector for the Town of Sherborn, treasured member of the Fiske Memorial Methodist Church in Natick, and later of the Congregational Church of Millis.

If you met Frank you learned very early on that he was a man of physical strength (be careful when you shake his hand it's a bone crusher), loyalty, and pride of his craft, his character, and his family. He enjoyed sharing stories of his youth and traveling back and forth between family farms in both the US and Canada. He would talk to you about history, he would talk to you about the people he knew, he would talk to you about anything. No pun intended but he never met a stranger. He was a man of great imagination with the biggest smile and a sparkle in his eye. As much as all he adored about his life, he was also a dog lover ... and they loved him.

Frank and Barbara raised their family in Sherborn, MA, and are survived by their two children, Frank H. Strange, III of Charleston, SC and his wife Bernadette, and Susan (Strange) Otenti Gould and her husband Dennis of Gorham, ME. Frank was always quick to brag about his combined 14 grand and great-grandchildren, Diana (Strange) Wood, Jennifer Strange, Frank H. Strange, IV, Kerry (Strange) Corbett, Tara (Otenti) Makara, Scott Otenti, Corissa Strange, Nicholas Otenti, Leandra Strange, Sean Makara, Alliyah Strange, Liam Strange, Sophia Strange, and Christian Corbett. Frank is also survived by his sister, Joyce Leighton of Baldwinville, MA; and was preceded in death by his brothers Hilton Strange, Landon Strange, of Natick, MA, F. Rae Strange of Arlington, TX, and Robert Strange of Virginia, as well as his sister Phyllis (Strange) Stackpole of Natick, MA.

Frank will be missed, but his life will be celebrated. As he would say, "Buy land, there is only so much of it, and when it's gone you can't make any more;" and "It's always good to have some WAM in your pocket."

In lieu of flowers the family asks for your consideration in making donations in Frank's memory to Grateful Golden Retriever Rescue League of the Low Country, P.O. Box 2519, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29465 (www.gglc.org) and/or the American Cancer Society, 5900 Core Road, Suite 504, North Charleston, SC 29406 (www.cancer.org/index).