Burbank Review
by Stan Lynch
My friend Frank Pawluc, who died April 1, was quite a guy. He was always involved in some worthwhile activity or another to help the community. He also had a knack for helping others.
I first met Frank back in the late 1960’s when he was involved with the Exchange Club of Burbank. Frank was the manager of the Republic Federal Savings & Loan office in Magnolia Park. We became friends, a friendship that lasted over 40 years.
Frank’s philosophy of helping others had a practical side. He was good at finding jobs for other people. A number of folks who needed a job found work thanks to Frank. Sometimes he helped people in ways that even they didn’t realize.
When Frank bought his home on Rose St. in Magnolia Park, he decided to make a major addition to the home, adding a second floor and completely remodeling the house. I, along with my friend Bill Stevens, and several other members of the Magnolia Park Exchange Club volunteered to help Frank. Among the things we did to help, was nail up all the drywall in the house. We spent many a night, and several weekends doing the work. We loved to kid Frank about buying “defective” nails. We would hold up a nail, turn it backward, and tell Frank the head of the nail was on the wrong end. He would retort that those were the nails for the “other side” of the wall.
We still joke about what a great guy Frank was to give us all “free drywall lessons.” We did all the work for free, but in hindsight it was Frank who did us a favor. The practical knowledge we picked up helping build his house has served us all well over the years.
A few years later I was with a group of high school kids from church during Easter vacation. We were given the task of hanging drywall on the ceiling of a community center on an Indian reservation in central California. No one was quite sure how to do it, but I knew, thanks to Frank. And when my friend Bill made a major addition to his home in Burbank some years later, he and I knew exactly how to do the drywall. Again, thanks to Frank.
Frank Pawluc was one of the good guys. If the large turnout of friends recently for a celebration of Frank’s life was any indication, a lot of people were touched by his life. The community will miss him, and so will I.
