Frank P. Schwencke

HENDERSON HARBOR -- Frank P. Schwencke, 99, of County Route 123, died at home April 13, 2024, under the care of Hospice and family members.

Frank was born July 21, 1924, in Elizabeth, N.J., oldest of four children of Paul and Rose Schwencke, and he moved with his family in 1931 to a farm at Hunt's Corners, near Marathon, N.Y. He graduated from Marathon High School in 1941 shortly before the start of World War II.

Frank entered Cornell University in Ithaca in 1942, and he left school and enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 1943. He was trained to be a telephone lineman and was assigned to the 3rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion. His tour in the Pacific theater began on the island of Guadalcanal, where he jokes that he was a “pot walloper” – assigned to kitchen duty. In August 1945, he was awaiting orders to board a ship for the invasion of mainland Japan when the Japanese surrendered and the war in the Pacific ended.

Frank believes President Truman saved his life and the lives of a million other U.S. service personnel by dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and forcing the Japanese surrender, thus negating the need for an invasion. “Every day has been a good day since that day,” Frank said. Frank was honorably discharged as a corporal.

He started over at Cornell in 1946, earning a captain's spot and All-Eastern honors on the varsity soccer team, and duel bachelor's degrees in agricultural engineering and agronomy in 1950.

Frank married Gretchen Kinney of Watertown in November 1951 and they raised two daughters, Susan and Carol.

Frank served as a county farm agent for various New York counties from 1950 to 1958. He joined the U.S. State Department as an agricultural development specialist in 1958, with service in Ghana, Nigeria, South Korea, South Vietnam, Washington, D.C., Jamaica, Tanzania and Haiti. He retired as a bureau chief in 1977 but went back to work for a year with the United Nations in Zanzibar and Rome in 1978.

The Schwenckes bought a home in Henderson Harbor in 1969, and Frank resided there until his death with Susan and her husband, Brian Boutilier. He and his wife wintered in Ellenton, Florida, for many years.

Frank loved sailing, and he sailed from Haiti to Henderson Harbor in 1977 and was still racing in his late 70s. He was a commodore of the Henderson Harbor Yacht Club. He also was an avid golfer and golfed frequently at Bedford Creek Golf Course in the town of Hounsfield. Frank was the honored veteran at the Henderson Memorial Day observance in 2023.

In addition to his daughter Susan and her husband, he is survived by another daughter and her husband, Carol and Tom Jent, Edwardsville; a sister, Bess Mallory, also of Edwardsville; three granddaughters and a grandson; two great-granddaughters and two great-grandsons.

Frank was predeceased by his wife in 2014, and brothers Paul and Jack.

Services will be private. Hart & Bruce Funeral Home of Watertown is in charge of arrangements. Memorial donations may be made to the following organizations: Hospice of Jefferson County, 1398 Gotham St., Watertown, N.Y. 13601; Henderson Harbor Water Sports Program, P.O. Box 405, Henderson Harbor, N.Y. 13651; Henderson Ambulance, P.O. Box 50, Henderson, N.Y. 13650.

Frank said he would like to be remembered with the World War II version of “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh,” by Woody Guthrie.

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