Francis "Frank" C. Loving

There are a lot of words you could use to describe Frank Loving. Funny, ornery, flirty, stubborn, resourceful, hard-working and vociferous are just a few that come to mind. But maybe the best word is the one he was given at birth: Loving.

Francis Calvin Loving, who loved his family dearly, died at his Raymore, Missouri home on January 26, 2022, with wife Harla and son Michael at his side. He was 82 years old.

His final years didn’t go as planned, spending too many days in the hospital and rehabilitation facility (or summer camp, as his family liked to call it). But he fought the good fight and maintained his zeal to live, even as his body failed him.

Despite his struggles over the past 10 years or so, Frank – known as Dad, Grandpa, Jelly, Jelly Belly and Foxy – lived a full life.

He was born on July 15, 1939, at the Weaver Hospital in Eldon, Missouri, to Floyd and Katy Grace Loving. He enjoyed roaming Miller County, taking dips in the local swimming hole, attending youth functions at church and getting into mischief with his cousin Richard Ray and good friends Don Hall and Jim Chalmers.

He also loved spending time with his Grandpa Frank Loving, for whom he was named, and Grandmother Effie Lee Loving. He often told the story about how Grandpa Frank always referred to him as “Old Timer.” Among other stories he told numerous times was the one about his dad asking him as a child if he wanted to go “see the parrot” at a tavern in Tuscumbia, which was code for Floyd to sneak away for a beer. There really was a parrot that squawked “Hello Billy” and entertained dad while he sipped a root beer.

Frank moved to Kansas City after graduating from Eldon High School in 1957. He worked as a projectionist at the Dickinson Theater in Overland Park and at Burstein-Applebee Company in downtown Kansas City, where he filled orders and installed audio-equipment.

He left B-A for Western Electric but soon joined the United States Army. He served from 1961-1963 as a supply clerk and spent time at Fort Knox and in South Korea.

It was soon after he left the Army that a friend from B-A set him up with another B-A employee, Harla Lee Baellow. “He called me and said ‘This is Francis,’ ” Harla said. “I said, ‘Huh? I’ve never heard of a guy named Francis.’”

Thus started a whirlwind romance. They dated four months before he popped the question in December 1963. They were married two months later, on Feb. 22, 1964, at Prospect United Methodist Church in Kansas City. They would have celebrated their 58th anniversary next month.

They had two children. Mike was born in 1967; Dan was born in 1970. “I once asked dad why they waited so long to have kids,” Dan said. “In his self-deprecating sense of humor, he said ‘That was my fault, too.’”

He spent most of his work life employed as a machinist with Western Electric (then Southwestern Bell, then AT&T, then Lucent Technologies). He also returned to the military in the Air Force Reserve mostly as a load planner on C-130 cargo transports. He got enough years in to retire from the armed services.

He also held a part-time summer job tending to the swimming pool in the backyard.

Frank lived for his family. He took Harla and the boys on vacations almost every summer. Some of the best trips were to Canada, Kentucky and Branson. And then there were the ones that didn’t go as planned, like when they went to Florida. Mike got sick. The Space Shuttle launch got scrubbed. And the Magic Kingdom was kind of boring. On a camping trip to Colorado, it rained the entire time. After they gave up the tent for a hotel room, Frank would look at the cloudy sky. “I think I see the sun sneaking through,” he said more than once. The sun didn’t come out until sometime after they crossed back into Kansas. Even on the trips that didn’t work out as planned, they had family jokes that they told for years. Only four people in the world know what “I wonder if that guy is still waiting for us at John Boy’s” means, but the Loving family got a lifetime of laughs out of the sentence. Frank loved playing board games with the boys and never missed Mike’s choir concerts or Dan’s football games.

When the boys got older, he continued to play an active role in their lives. When Mike got his first teaching job in Oregon, Missouri, Frank bought him a house because there was nowhere else to live in the small town. When Dan got his first job in New Jersey, he modified his S-10 pickup and drove him to his new home halfway across the country. “That truck looked like something out of the ‘Beverly Hillbillies,’” Dan said. “Dad could fit 10 pounds of crap in a 5-pound bucket.”

Frank was incredibly handy with tools. He finished the basement in their Raymore home, built the fence and deck in the backyard, fixed and installed numerous appliances, remodeled bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen more than once, and rerouted plumbing and electricity. His workmanship was immaculate (although we won’t go into detail about the Great Entertainment Center Incident of 1995 for which he almost sacrificed an index finger).

When grandchildren came along, his doting and love only increased and his woodworking shifted from furniture building to toy making. The grandchildren all have fond memories of their Grandpa. He attended numerous programs, concerts and sporting events. As his health began to deteriorate, his ability to attend events waned, yet his love did not. The grandkids got a kick out of Frank’s habits in his later years. He’d record the NBC, CBS and ABC morning shows and watch them throughout the day. He talked to the TV personalities like they could hear him. He’d pick a movie to watch and then talk through the entire thing.

“I still to this day have never seen ‘Knocked Up’ without Grandpa talking in the background,” said his eldest granddaughter, Sophie.

Frank is survived by his wife, Harla of the home; sons Michael (Serena) Loving of Smithville and Daniel (Maria) Loving of Wichita; grandchildren Sophia (Blake) Henry of St. Joseph, Lily Loving of St. Joseph, Brett Loving of Wichita, Casey Loving of Wichita, and Maggie Loving of Smithville; brother Tom (Georgetta) Loving of Eldon; numerous nieces, nephews and friends; and his dog Bella. He was preceded in death by his parents Floyd and Grace and pets Bulger, Ralph, Rusty, Sox (there you go, Rachel), Sally, Alaska, Boomer, and Levi.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the KC Pet Project or to any pet rescue organization.

A visitation for Frank will be held Tuesday, February 1, 2022 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm at Mt. Moriah, Newcomer & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO 64131. A Funeral Service will follow at 1:00pm. A Committal Service will follow on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 10:00am at Leavenworth National Cemetery, 150 Muncie Road, Leavenworth, KS 66048.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mtmoriah.net for the Loving family.