Frank Allen Young (1933-2021)

NORWAY – Frank Allen Young of Wilson Lake, Wilton, Maine, and Frederica, Delaware, died peacefully on January 1, 2021, at the age of 87 at Stephens Memorial Hospital, Norway, ME, where he was surrounded by his family. He suffered from heart disease and had a quadruple bypass operation in 1988.

Frank’s greatest love in life (besides his wife) was his family with 4 children, 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. He visited them as often as possible, spent time with them at their house in Maine, celebrated birthdays and holidays, attended their sporting events and took trips with them. If you visited him, you either got to watch slides (back in the day) or he pulled out his most recent photo album (87 total) each one labeled with people’s names and the year. During the winter months, Marie and Frank were snowbirds, spending their time in the Leesburg/Zephyrhills, Florida, area. They loved traveling with or without their motor home. Unless sickness interfered, they visited their children and families every year, even if it was half-way across the country. Frank was an ardent sports fan and loved football (Redskins), baseball (Red Sox), basketball (Celtics), and watching his children and grandchildren play their favorite sports. He also loved hunting and fishing in both Delaware and Maine and fishing trips were always on the calendar when visiting Maine.

Frank was born to Maudist Tuttle Young and Charles Harold Young, in Malden, Massachusetts on December 18, 1933. After Frank’s mother passed away shortly after his birth, Frank and his brother (Charles, Jr.), moved to Dryden, ME, where they lived for 14 years with their Aunt (Fern Tuttle Neil) and Uncle (Samuel J. Neil). During their childhood, Frank and his brother Charles also lived two years with their father, and an additional two years with another Aunt (Mae Young) and Uncle (Bernard T. Young).

Frank graduated from Wilton Academy in 1952 and attended Springfield College, MA, for a year where he played freshman football as a half-back. After working at the woolen mill the summer of 1953, he decided to volunteer for the draft and joined the Army (74th Ordnance Corp) where he spent two years during the Korean War. He married Lois Osgood of Hyattsville, Maryland, (married from 1954-1967) and they both moved to Fort Dix, NJ for Frank’s Basic Training; to Fort Lee, VA, for Ordnance School; and then to White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, where he was stationed for a year.

After his honorable discharge from the Army, he used the GI bill to return to college at the University of Maine at Farmington, graduating in 1958 with his Bachelor’s degree in Education. During his undergraduate college years, he and his wife had their first two children (Joy Henri, and Frank Allen, Jr.) in Farmington, ME. Upon graduation, Frank was hired as a 6th-grade teacher in Toms River, NJ, where he also worked two part-time jobs to support his family. He and his wife had two more children (Jay Arnold, and Jan Alison) born in Toms River, NJ. In 1964 he earned his MBA in Education Administration from Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, and accepted his first principalship in Down Twp, NJ.

He continued his career in education in Delaware where he spent 25 years in the Felton/Lake Forest School Districts in Felton. It was during this time that he met his current wife Doris Marie on a summer vacation in Maine and married her in 1969. While in Delaware, he served as the State President of the Instruction & Curriculum Organization, developed a unique Readiness First Grade Program for immature and socially deprived pupils, developed the district’s first systematic checking and supervision of lesson plans, and developed the district’s first elementary school library. He retired from the State of Delaware in 1991, and worked in substitute teacher and principalship roles at Polytech High School and the Lake Forest School District for several years, even beyond 80 years of age. Frank was certified as a Superintendent of Schools at the University of Delaware in 1973. His chief accomplishment in education came in 1988 when he was honored as the Delaware National Distinguished Principal by residing President Ronald Reagan.

In 1994, he returned to Maine making it his permanent home, spending more time at his house on Wilson Lake in Wilton, ME. Soon after, he accepted full-time principalships in Fairlee/Vershire, Vermont, for the 1994-95 school year and in Fryeburg, Maine School District from 1995-99.

Frank was a member of Who’s Who In American Education and served as a member of many Professional Organizations, which include the Delaware Association of School Administrators (Ex. Bd.), American Association of School Administrators, National Association of Exceptional Children, Diamond State Reading Association, Delaware Principals Academy (Ex. Bd.), NJ Elementary Principals Assoc., Maine Elementary Principals Association, and Vermont Elementary Principals Assoc.

Other organizations to he belonged to were the Delaware Veterans Post 2 (former Commander & Life Member), Association of Approved Basketball Officials (25 years as a basketball referee), long-time member of the NRA (National Rifle Association), Dover Elks Post 1903 (30+ Yrs.), Harrington Moose Post 534 (30+ Yrs.), Dover American Legion (30+ Yrs.), Jay AMVETS Post 33, and Rumford Order of Eagles.

Frank was an American Baptist and former member of the Henderson Memorial Baptist Church in Farmington, ME, and a Sunday School Superintendent for two years (1956-58). He most recently was a member of Christ Memorial Baptist Church, Dover, DE (1973-present), where he was a Sunday School teacher and a Superintendent of the Sunday School for many years.

Frank was predeceased by his parents, Maudist Tuttle Young and Charles Harold Young, Sr.; his brother, Charles Young, Jr.; his Aunt Fern Tuttle Neil and Uncle Samuel J. Neil who raised him; and his niece, Kelly Young Sargent.

Frank is survived by his wife of 51 years, D. Marie Kelly Young; his four children, Joy Young; Frank Allen Young, Jr. (Jane), Jay Young, Jan Young Knorr (Robert); his ten grandchildren, Angela Villecco Mead (Michael), John Villecco (Katie), Lisa Villecco Allgaier (Eric), Caroline Young (Jimmy), Benjamin Young, Amanda Young Mitchell (Jon), Dillan Young (Kylie), Erika Knorr (Stephanie), Kristen Knorr, Brooke Knorr; his five great-grandchildren, Elayna and Sofie Allgaier, Adelyn Villecco, Eli and Madilynn Mitchell; and his three nieces and nephews, Kathy Young Groder (Bill), Scott Young (Laurie); Kristi Young Couture (Darryl). Frank was loved by everyone he came in contact with, including many more generations of nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service is being planned for April in Delaware; details to come at a later date. Public Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, May 29, 2021, at 11 am at the Wiles Remembrance Center, 137 Farmington Falls Road, Farmington, ME. Relatives and friends are invited to call one hour prior to the service (10am-11am). Interment with Army Honors will follow at Lakeview Cemetery in Wilton, ME. Please leave your stories, laughs and memories in his Book of Memories at www.wilesrc.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations can made to the Wilton Area Food Pantry, PO Box 106, Wilton, ME 04294; the American Cancer Society, 92 Reads Way, Ste 205, Newark DE 19713; or American Heart Association, 131 Continental Drive, #407, Newark, DE 19713.