Frank Pollack

Spouse: Nancy E.

Kids:

Karen (1972)
Christine (1975)
Michael (1977)

Grand-Kids:

Zachary (2008)
Suzanna (2009)

2025 Update:

Since I was unable to attend our 60th reunion due to a prior commitment I thought a few of you may be interested in what has gone on for the past 10+ years since my last update. I will also add some additional information to some of the points of my 2014 update and a short story that happened in 1963 that you may get a kick out of. In the last 60 years since high school, I have done a number of varying things:

Following graduation I pretty much goofed off all summer long. Then near the end of the summer reality set in, when most of my friends were headed off to college I figured that I have to do something or get drafted, go to Vietnam and get shot. Therefore, in September 1964 I enlisted into the Navy's Nuclear Power Program then spent the next 2 1/2 years going to various schools. After I arrived at the one of the first schools, Basic Nuclear Power School at Vallejo, CA we were told most of our instructors were either Professors or Associate Professors at UC Berkley, also we were told academically this was the hardest school the Navy had to offer. Further we were told the failure rate was 50%, but for those that completed it if we had the time and money we could go down to UC Berkley and test out of most of the core courses for a Mechanical Engineering degree and a minor in Nuclear Engineering. At this point I wondered "What the hell did I get myself into". As it was, I found it extremely challenging and interesting, I graduated in the top 10% of my class. Upon completion of this school I was sent to the National Reactor Testing Station at Idaho Falls, ID for training on one of the Navy's nuclear reactors. After completion of these schools, I went to three more schools. Following completion of all these schools I spent the next 3 1/2 years in Hawaii stationed on nuclear submarines which included 4 patrols on the USS Benjamin Franklin SSBN 640 (a ballistic missile submarine) stationed in of Guam.

I met Nancy on St. Patrick's Day '69 and we were married Dec. '69 in Chicago, we celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary last December. I completed my enlistment in the fall of '70.

In 1971 started working for the Commonwealth Edison Co of Chicago, IL at the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant. In '75 received my Reactor Operators (RO) license from the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Ironically I was born not long after the AEC was established and received the last RO license that the AEC issued before it was dissolved in 1975. As a licensed Control Room Operator I was responsible for the safe operation of the reactor and all associated plant systems and components in all conditions. In '82 I graduated with highest honors from Eastern Iowa Community College with a Mechanical Engineering Degree. Also in '82 I was chosen as Region III President of the Professional Reactor Operators Society (PROS). Through PROS I participated in research projects and the formulation of some NCR rules and regulations. In '83 I appeared as a witness before the 98th Congress, US House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology.

During our '84 LHS class reunion I received a contract to go to New Jersey for startup support of the Hope Creek Nuclear Power Station, one of the newest nuclear power plants under construction. My primary responsibility was to develop all the 18 month Operations Surveillance Test Procedures, these were the logic tests required by the NRC to verify that all plant components and systems operate as designed and in accordance with federal regulations during plant emergencies. While still in the nuclear industry, this was the beginning of a new, very fascinating, and challenging career. From '84 to 2013 I worked as a consultant across the country on a wide variety of interesting and challenging projects to support the commercial nuclear industry.

Off and on since between 1979 and 2019 I had been looking for a 1928 or 29 Model A Roadster like the one I had at LHS. Finally, when I had given up I was informed of a 1929 roadster for sale about 15 miles from my home. I procrastinated for a couple days as I had decided I did not want another project car, which was what I thought it was for their asking price. Nancy finally convinced me to go look at it and said "You can always say NO! and walk away". My son and I went to look at it, when I drove up to the house and saw the car in the driveway, before we got out of my car I told Mike that if it was half as good as it looks that it is sold. It was in excellent condition, restored correctly and the way I would have done it. We finalized the deal but I had to sell my 1928 Phaeton in order to park it in the garage. I ended up selling the Phaeton, a long but good story, the short version is that I sold it to James Taylor's younger brother. Yes! The James Taylor singer of our generation.

In January 2020 I had a stroke caused by AFib, I had a quick ride to the hospital and operation. The doctors removed 2 blood clots near my right temple the size of BBs. This was all done in little over an hour and a half. I recovered with no damage.

Some of my interests include swimming, travel, Model A Fords and traveling the back roads in our Model A's. We have two Model A Fords, a 1929 Tudor and a 1929 Roadster (like the ones I had at LHS, except these are restored). In 2006 I was elected to four years to the Model "A" Restorers Club (MARC) Board of Directors, where I served as Director of Publications and as the national President. In 2011 I received the Ken Brady Award, this award is looked upon as MARC's 'life service' award. In the past few years we have driven our 1929 Model A over 20,000 miles. I would conservatively estimate since LHS I have driven my Model As over 125,000 miles.

My future plans include: staying happy; healthy; retired; enjoying the family and good friends; travel; driving my Model As; the Model A hobby; swimming; attending the LHS 65th?? Or 70thth?? Reunions; and in general what life has to offer, "Life is too short to take things too seriously".

For the last 30 years or so we try to go to our favorite places in Hawaii every couple of years and are looking forward to our next trip.

I have been retired for the past several years. We enjoy spending time with our kids and grandchildren. Karen our oldest daughter and Mike our son, his wife Christy and our grandchildren live within a few minutes of us so see them quite frequently. Christine, our other daughter lives and works in Arlington, VA. All three of our children are very successful in their chosen fields.

I got my first Model A in April 1963 when I was at LHS. It was pretty ratty but I loved it. I slopped a coat of red oxide primer on it with a brush, needless to say that did not help the appearance much. Shortly after school was out for the summer (1963) I started a job running parts for the Mc Monigle Chevrolet dealership. I was told to stay away from the front office and if not running parts stay in the back of the parts department out of sight. I was not given a parking place in the employee's lot, so the only place I could find to park was a spot on the street near the front of the parts department. Three days into the job, I was summoned to Mr. Mc Monigle's office. As a 16 year old kid, I was thinking "What hell did I do now?" I remember Jim's words to this day, when I went into the his office, he said, "Are you the one that owns that damned old Ford parked in front of my business?" Very timidly I answered, "Yes!" to which he said "I can't tell you what to drive to work, you are not senior enough to have a parking place on the employee's lot, and I will NOT have a Ford parked in front of my business!" At this point I was wondering "What the hell am I going to do now and where will I park!" Then he went on to say "Back in the loading dock area there are 3 parking places, 1 for the parts truck you drive, 1 for my Corvette, and 1 empty space. "You park your Ford in that space out of sight!" He further added "Here is your set of keys to my Corvette, at the end of the day I want you to move the Corvette out of the dock area, make a few passes through downtown to warm it up and park it in front of my office." As a side note, telling a 16 year old kid he must drive a Corvette through town to warm it up is the next thing to heaven. For the remaining year and a half that worked for the dealership there were only 2 people that had inside parking spaces out of the weather, one for the Jim's Corvette and the other for my Model A (parked next to the Corvette).

2014 Reunion News:

In the last 50 years since high school, I have worked for and worked as the following:

In September 1964 I enlisted into the Navy's Nuclear Power Program, then spent the next 2 1/2 years going to various schools, followed by 3 1/2 years in Hawaii stationed on nuclear submarines. Met Nancy on St. Patrick's Day '69 and we were married Dec. '69, we will celebrate our 45 wedding anniversary this year. Completed my enlistment in the fall of '70.

In 1971 started working for the Commonwealth Edison Co of Chicago, IL at the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant. In '75 received my Reactor Operators license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). As a licensed Control Room Operator I was responsible for the safe operation of the reactor and all associated plant systems and components in all conditions. In '82 I graduated with highest honors from Eastern Iowa Community College with a degree in mechanical engineering. Also in '82 I was chosen as Region III President of the Professional Reactor Operators Society. Through PROS I participated in research projects and the formulation of some NCR rules and regulations. In '83 I appeared as a witness before the 98th Congress, US House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology.

During our '84 LHS class reunion I received a contract to go to New Jersey for startup support of the Hope Creek Nuclear Power Station, one of the newest nuclear power plants under construction. My primary responsibility was to develop all the Operations Surveillance Test Procedures, these were the logic tests required by the NRC to verify that all plant components and systems operate as designed and in accordance with federal regulations during plant emergencies. While still in the nuclear industry, this was the beginning of a new, very fascinating, and challenging career. From '84 to present I have worked as a consultant across the country on a wide variety of interesting and challenging projects to support the commercial nuclear industry.

For the most part I have been retired for the past several years, however occasionally I do provide my services to Philadelphia Electric Company's (PECO/Exelon) Engineering Division. We enjoy spending time with our kids and grandchildren. Karen our oldest daughter and Mike our son, his wife Christy and our grandchildren live within a few minutes of us so see them quite frequently. Christine, our other daughter lives and works in Arlington, VA. All three of our children are very successful in their chosen fields.

Some of my other interests include swimming, travel, Model A Fords and traveling the back roads in our Model A's. We have two Model A Fords, a 1929 Tudor (like the one I had at LHS, except it is restored) and a 1928 Phaeton (open car or convertible). In 2006 I was elected for four years to the Model "A" Restorers Club (MARC) Board of Directors, where I served as Director of Publications and as the national President. In 2011 I received the Ken Brady Award, this award is looked upon as MARC's 'life service' award. In the past 2 years we have driven our 1929 Model A over 10,000 miles, which included trips to Oshkosh, WI, Chattanooga, TN, Charlotte, NC and a trip from Gettysburg, PA along the old Lincoln Highway into Times Square, NYC. Driving a Model A through the Lincoln Tunnel and around Times Square even for a veteran Model A driver was quite an experience.

My future plans include: staying happy; healthy; retired; enjoying the family and good friends; travel; driving my Model A to Alaska; the Model A hobby; swimming; attending the LHS 60th reunion in 2024; and in general what life has to offer, "Life is too short to take things too seriously".

2009 Reunion News:

Update Fall 2011: Below is the text of an article that appeared in the Model A Restorers Club (MARC) President's column of a recent issue of the national clubs magazine the Model A News. MARC presents one (1) of the Ken Brady Awards per year. It is the most prestigious award that MARC presents. MARC has about 9,000 members.

The Ken Brady Award is presented each year in memory of Kenneth G. Brady "who gave unsparingly of his time and energy to the Model "A" Restorer's Club." Ken server MARC and the hobby in many ways before his sudden passing in 1978. The Ken Brady Award is looked upon as MARC's 'life service' award. This year's Ken Brady Award was presented at the Membership Meeting in St. Augustine, Florida, to Frank Pollack. Frank has been a long time member of MARC who began serving on the Touring Class Committee since 1995. He was involved with its development, refinement and promotion. Frank served the committee in many areas ending with a four year stint as chairman when he moved on to the MARC BOD. As a member of the Board of Directors from 2006 - 2010 serving as Director of Publications and the MARC President he has given unsparingly of his time and energy in helping others to become involved in the Model A hobby. This past year Frank has served as the MARC Liaison officer in negotiations with MAFCA for finalizing the contract relating to printing, price, release dates of the new supplement, part of the joint MARC/MAFCA Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards which is now available for purchase. Frank's work for MARC over the decades and this year exemplify the meaning of the Ken Brady Award.

2009 Reunion News:

Update Fall 2009: I included a recent picture of my 29 Tudor and I on Skyline Drive, VA taken the end of September. If you go to the MARC web site (see link below) you can read a report about the tour and view about 200 pictures that I loaded.

Past highlights-2004-2009: Stayed happy and healthy and am for the most part retired. Saw our kids establish their lives as productive responsible adults. Birth of our grand children. In 2006 was elected to the Model "A" Restorers Club (MARC) Board of Directors, 2006-2009 served as Director of Publications, this spring (2009) was elected as MARC National President, MARC has over 9,000 members, visit our web site at http://www.modelaford.org. In the past five years have attended many MARC meets and functions including in 2007 drove our 1928 Model A Phaeton to Williamsburg, VA, 2008 Dallas, TX, and 2008 drove our 1929 Model A Tudor Sedan to central VA and on to Kittyhawk, NC. Worked several interesting and challenging projects from the south-east to New England contributing to the nuclear utility industry. Ironically, in 2007 my son Mike and I made a date to see the new Bruce Willis Die Hard movie "Live Free or Die Hard" where Bruce faced a gang of cyber terrorists, that very afternoon I was selected to develop the cyber security program, directives, and procedures for a large nuclear utility, this program is intended to prevent what the movie was about. I have enjoyed life and what it offers. This December I will celebrate 40 years of marriage to a wonderful lady.lady.

Future Plans: Stay happy, healthy and retired. Drive my Model A from coast to coast, may be to our LHS 50th reunion. Contribute 47+ years of Model A knowledge and leadership to the Model A hobby. Occasionally provide consulting services to the nuclear industry. Enjoy retirement, travel, enjoy the family and good friends, the Model A hobby, swimming and in general what life has to offer. Attending our 50th LHS reunion. Life is too short to take things too seriously, the standing joke in our house is still that I am 12 - Nothing has changed and I still plan to remain 12.

2004 Reunion News:

Past highlights: Stayed happy, healthy and employed. Saw our kids graduate from the University of Delaware and establish their lives as productive responsible young adults. Attended our sons wedding. Drove my Model A Ford to the mid-west several times to the national Model A Restorers Club events. Served 4 years as national chairman of the Model A Restorers Club-Touring Committee. Worked several interesting and challenging projects from the mid-west to New England contributing to the nuclear utility industry. I have enjoyed life and 35 years of marriage to a wonderful lady.

Future Plans: Stay happy, healthy and employed. Drive my Model A to Alaska. Contribute 42+ years of Model A knowledge to the hobby by perhaps writing a book or developing some other hobbyists users guide. Contribute a few more years to the nuclear industry. Retire, travel, enjoy the family and good friends, the Model A hobby, swimming and in general what life has to offer. Attending our 50th LHS reunion. Life is too short to take things too seriously, the standing joke in our house is: I am 12-I plan to remain 12.

30 Year Reunion 1994

20 Year Reunion 1984

10 Year Reunion 1974