Frank W. Symonds

Born in Salem, Massachusetts on December 8, 1917 to Mary Brown Stephenson Symonds and Frank Willis Symonds Sr., he was a proud graduate of Salem High School and then the Bentley School of Accounting. He served in the Army Air Corps at Westover Field, Massachusetts from 1940-1945, becoming what his friends thought was one of the youngest master sergeants in the Corps. He met and married the love of his life, Ann Pukish Symonds, at a dance during the war, and they married in 1942. He moved on to work at Smith & Wesson after the war, retiring as treasurer in 1973.

He was a good and honest accountant, but his real loves were sports and the outdoors. He spent many hours digging and building at his cabin in Brookfield, fishing in Canada, water-skiing at the cabin, and skiing Mount Washington. He tied his own flies, never killed a fish he wasn’t going to eat, and cared deeply about animals. He fed wild turkeys, a fox and her kits, and sundry other animals, wild and tame. He loved dogs, and he and his wife had many over the years: Rummy, Scamper, Tiki, Roamy, and then Jessie. Dogs loved him, too. Frank and Ann retired to NH with Jessie, and when she died quite a few years later, Frank spent ten years writing a book about her and then publishing it. He loved watching all sports, followed the Boston teams, and in retirement learned to play, and then to teach bridge at the Keene, New Hampshire Senior Center. Both he and his wife loved to entertain, and he told jokes that went on for twenty minutes. He was a good man who helped his neighbors, served his country, took care of his family, despised injustice, and lived long enough to see the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the Series four games straight.

He is survived by his daughter, Deborah A. Symonds (Melissa Cano) and two grandchildren, Sarah Ann Symonds and Samuel Willis Symonds, his nephew Richard Herrick (Natalie), brother-in-law Michael Pukish, and many other wonderful nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service will be held at the Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court Street, Keene, NH, on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 11:00am. There will be no calling hours. Following the services at the Funeral Home, a Committal Service with Military Honors, will be held in the Friedsom Cemetery in Chesterfield, NH, where both he and his wife, Ann will be laid to rest.

Arrangements under the direction of Foley Funeral Home, Keene, NH.