Frank Eichelberg

All who knew Frank Eichelberg would agree that life was certainly more interesting when he was around. He was an innovative, self-reliant, and hardworking man who never knew the meaning of the word “can’t.” Although he accomplished many things of which to be proud, Frank was a humble man who was compassionate, giving, and honest to a fault. With the love of his life by his side for 58 years, Frank taught his children by example how to be people of great character; his timeless legacy evidence of a life well lived. Frank will be deeply missed, but his loved ones find comfort in knowing that he has been reunited with his beloved wife.

The decade of the 1930s was cloaked in hardship due to the unrelenting grip of the Great Depression. Despite the harsh circumstances around them, a young couple was delighted to welcome their son into their hearts and home on September 23, 1930. Frank Adrian was one of two children born to his parents, Adrian and Lucille (Verdries) Eichelberg, and was raised in the family home alongside his sister, Mary Lou. His passion was being on the water from the time he was a young boy as he loved both swimming and sailing as well as ice boating in the winter. Frank relayed memories of the exhilaration of flying across a frozen Gull Lake.

As a young boy the seed of true love was planted between Frank and a young classmate named Leslie Jane Vermeulen. It wasn’t until they became reacquainted at their first high school reunion, however, that they began to date. They were both students at Michigan State at the time, but Frank was devastated when Leslie wanted to break up a bit later. A short time afterwards, Frank agreed to drive his sister to Florida where she was attending college. He stayed down there and got a job selling advertisements for the phone company. Frank even ended up being the top salesman. As fate would have it, Leslie and her father were driving through Fort Lauderdale about a year later and spotted Frank’s car with his Michigan plates. She left a note on his windshield and later the couple met at a local bar and the sparks flew. Frank packed his bags and drove hellbent back to Michigan, and without delay the couple set into motion their plans to wed.

Frank and Leslie exchanged their vows in a beautiful garden ceremony at Leslie’s parents’ home on September 1st, which proved to be the hottest day of the year. After a honeymoon at Niagara Falls the couple returned to Kalamazoo where they soon started their family that grew to include three children: Peter, William, and Jane.

A born salesman, Frank pursued a career in real estate. Although he sought out other business ventures through the years he always returned to his first love - real estate. Frank was a true visionary whose ideas were often well ahead of their time. One such example is the far fetched idea he agreed to when approached by a friend to begin the US 131 Dragway with his friends, John Grivens and Bill Steinman. Now known as the US 131 Motorsports Park, their business venture has been thrilling fans for 50 years thanks in a large part to Frank’s savvy business sense. Later in life he also started an insulation business he called Energy Systems during a time when the nation was facing an energy crisis. It comes as no surprise that this business flourished as well. In 1980 construction started on Oak Shadows Condominiums, Frank’s innovative condos near Al Sabo Nature Preserve that paired the ease of condominium living in the midst of a natural setting.

As Frank’s children can attest, life in the Eichelberg family was anything but boring. They spent many hours at the dragstrip, meeting countless legends in the sport of drag racing. Frank’s children also learned how to downhill ski at an early age, which was a sport they enjoyed as a family for numerous years. They took ski trips to Northern Michigan several times to both Boyne and Sugarloaf Mountain with close family friends. The final ski trip they took as a family was in 1972 when they drove out to Aspen, Colorado. The Eichelbergs also drove to Florida several times either to visit their grandparents or to go to Treasure Island with family friends. Who could forget the trip to Treasure Island one year when they went deep sea diving with a drunken captain? This voyage took them through a tropical storm that ended up re-routing them to Pensacola where they landed on shore after repeated warnings to evacuate the naval air space they had wandered into? There were also memorable summers spent near Leslie’s parents’ cottage on Gull Lake where a renovated barn Frank’s family stayed in for part of the summer allowed them to enjoy swimming, boating, and fireworks on the Fourth of July with close family and friends.

Family was always a vital component in Frank’s life, and in his life with his children. Holidays were often spent with their relatives locally, and later traveling to spent them with children who had moved away. The family took many memorable trips in their motorhome, one of the early trips to California in 1963 to visit Frank’s family they weren’t able to see very often.

As a father, Frank encouraged his children to pursue their passions, in part through the example he set. They were all passionate about boating through the years, and both Frank and Leslie were supportive of their daughter’s love for horses. It was after boarding her own horse for a year that their family came to live in a home in the country at Oak Shadows Farm. Later in life when their children spread out throughout the country, Frank and Leslie began traveling in their motorhome with their two much loved cats, Rocky and Dottie, to visit their children and their families while making new friends, too. Frank was also the founding member of the Oshtemo Rotary Club in 1980. Through this organization Frank and Leslie traveled internationally to distribute and vaccinate for polio. They traveled extensively just for fun, too, taking in everything they could about the places they visited.

Through the life he lived each day, Frank Eichelberg inspired those around him to accomplish greatness, love deeply, and to selflessly give to others. The timeless legacy he leaves behind will continue on in the generations who follow him.

Frank Adrian Eichelberg died on July 28, 2012. Frank’s family includes his children: Peter N. Eichelberg of Corvallis, OR, William J. (Mary Swanson) Eichelberg of Kalamazoo, and Jane E. (R. Jack) Clapp of Polson, MT; 3 grandchildren: T.J and Joe Eichelberg and Grant A. Clapp; sister, Mary Lou Buck of Corvallis, OR; his sister-in-law, Kay Vermeulen; several nieces, nephews and cousins; and many dear friends. Frank was preceded in death by his wife, Leslie. A Memorial service will be held on Friday, August 31 – 1 p.m. at Life Story Funeral Home, Betzler – Kalamazoo; 6080 Stadium Dr, 375-2900, a reception will follow in the Life Story Center. Frank and his wife Leslie will be buried at Riverside Cemetery. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com where you can archive a memory. Memorial donations may be directed to the Oshtemo Rotary Club, PO Box 241, Oshtemo, MI 49007; or to the Great Lakes Bengal Rescue, 7106 Bittersweet Moors Ct, Ft. Wayne, IN 46814.