Frank Lyon

I’m David Hicks, one of Frank’s sons-in-law, and I’d like to thank you, as family and friends, for joining us today as we celebrate the life of Frank Lyon, husband, father and friend.

He was born on Christmas Day, Dec.25, 1933, in Frankfurt, Germany, to parents Leopold and Helene Lyon. And passed away on New Year’s Day, Jan.1st, 2011.

Which prompted Mom to comment, “He must have really had a thing for holidays!”

Years ago, Dad once said to me, “Family is everything.” And that’s pretty much how he lived.

Dad’s love for family and his work ethic were perhaps driven deep while he was raised as a child in wartime Germany. With his father absent and serving in the French Foreign Legion, and his mother struggling to provide, he saw lack firsthand. And things were no better when he was evacuated out to a farm in the countryside, where the kids were expected to work hard as well. Those were hard times, but Dad liked better to tell about the family get-togethers and how much he enjoyed family occasions.

And this experience was probably also the root of his enjoyment and appreciation for food. In these latter years one of his favourite topics of conversation were what he had for supper, or the last thing he bought at the grocery store. He would often complain that the only bad thing about Mom’s cooking was that he liked so many things that it took too long for recipes to come around so he could enjoy them again.

Then there was his own love for music. Jazz was his favourite, especially Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. In fact, Sinatra was the reason Dad took the name ‘Frank’ when he immigrated to Canada. We were playing some of his favourite music at the visitation yesterday and someone commented that it was “the best music they’d ever heard in a funeral home.”

After the war and a college education in France, Frank seized on a last-minute opportunity to get on a boat for Canada. Like all immigrants of that era, he landed at Halifax and decided to live in Montreal because he was fluent in French. The was the ‘50s, and he was making a living selling furniture (based on experience in his uncle’s furniture business back in Europe) and coincidentally found himself doing some free lance catering for other immigrants who missed their favourite foods “back home.”

But one day a friend talked him into moving on to Toronto, which he resisted at first because it meant learning yet a third language. Eventually that led to a gig as a cook in Northern Ontario, near North Bay, where he met and married Mom, returning to downtown Toronto to raise his family: Danielle, Bruce, Jasmine and Charmaine.

Because of his work ethic, he advanced in his job at a leather goods business and later became a manager at a toy business. With his father being a European art dealer, Frank had grown up with an appreciation of art, which he applied with savvy in the collectibles business he ran for 35 years with Mom, and with lots of weekend help from Charmaine. Including a stint at their own store, The Lyons’ Den, in Mirvish Village. Of course, now there’s an entire storage unit jammed with stuff. So, eBay, watch out.

And his work ethic never let up. Dad tried to retire, but he wasn’t very good at it. He tried the semi-retired Snowbird thing for a few years, spending half the year in Florida, where the buffets, grocery stores and his grapefruit tree were a good distraction. But when Mom and Dad came back, he’d be right back to work helping out at his son-in-law Peter’s business, Pete’s Automotive. Even while he was in hospital, in serious condition, he was giving Charmaine instructions about what had to be done back at the shop, and he talked about getting back to work.

Dad was pretty introverted. He didn’t have a wide circle of friends, and Charmaine commented that he would have cringed at the idea of greeting and shaking hands with all the people who came to the visitation yesterday and last night. But he was very loyal to the small group of friends he had: Wally Schell, a homeless kid he gave a job, 25 years; Dave Dykeman, 35 years; Valerio Susin, 26 years; and George & Doris Meyer, 52 years.

Really, life was about family for Dad. He missed out on the childhood of his young sister, Yvonne, because he was already in Canada, but we could always ask about Yvonne and her husband, Koschi, and niece, Paola, because we knew he’d talked to them within the last week or two by phone back in Germany or France. Even his trips back to Europe weren’t much about sightseeing and visiting historical sites – it was about spending time with his parents, Yvonne & Koschi, and other relatives.

So he raised his four kids in downtown Toronto… I remember him once saying, with that snort, nod and sideways look, “You think this was easy?”… with all the weddings, four grandkids (Matthew, Peter, Allison and Nicole) and great-grandchild, Calib.

Vacations were about family time, with driving trips to Quebec to visit Mom’s side of the family, day trips to Musselman’s Lake, and you can see by the photos we’ve posted on the funeral website how he loved being with his kids, holding his grandkids when they were small and hanging out with them as they grew up, and doting on little Calib, who called him “G-G-Pa”.

Between his love of family, appreciation of food, and work ethic, Dad was a pretty stubborn guy, which probably served him well as he became a cancer survivor three times over, plus lots of health complications from the treatments.

Right up to the end, Dad’s top priorities were his wife, Helen, his kids, working with Pete and the boys at the shop… and supper.

Dad wasn’t a very demonstrative man, emotionally, but I remember what an impact it had on Charmaine when he once told her, “Charmaine, I think about you every day.”

I know that this was true of all of his family, and I know that we will think often of him too.

At the end of his reign, King Solomon reflected on his own life in a book called Ecclesiastes. It’s not exactly light reading, but he was looking back on all that he had seen and done, and he said this:

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. [And I think Dad would add ‘love his family’.] This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness…” (Eccl.2:24-26a)

As his son, Bruce, mentioned in his comments at the visitation last night, I think by these measures, we can say Dad’s life was a success. And we will miss him.

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Lyon, Frank; passed away peacefully at home on January 1, 2011 at the age of 77 years. Survived by his wife Helena and children; Danielle (Peter Cicco), Bruce, Jasmine, and Charmaine (David Hicks). Grandpa will be sadly missed by Matthew (Trish), Peter Jr., Allison, and Nicole. G-G-Pa to Calib. Dear brother to Yvonne (Koschi), and uncle to Paola. Family and friends will be received at the Andrews Community Funeral Centre, 8190 Dixie Rd., Brampton (N. of Steeles Ave., 905-456-8190) on Tuesday January 4, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A funeral mass to be held on Wednesday January 5, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. from St. Marguerite d’ Youville Roman Catholic Church, (2490 Sandalwood Pkwy., Brampton),. Cremation. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or Heart and Stroke Foundation. Tributes to the family may be made and photographs viewed at www.andrewsscommunityfuneralcentre.com