Frank W. Ganger's Obituary
Frank W. Ganger Jr.
Frank W. Ganger, Jr., age 69, of Palm Coast, Florida passed away on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 after a long illness. He was born in Queens, New York, on December 23, 1943 to Frank Sr. and Madeline Dominger Ganger. He was raised in New Jersey and Illinois. He received a degree in Technical and Vocational Education from Murray State University in 1977. He spent his summers gold mining on the Fortymile River in Alaska and moved to Alaska in 1980, living in remote Eskimo villages for several years, before moving to Anchorage. He moved to Lake Bluff, Illinois in 2001 and then to Palm Coast in 2006 when he retired.
Frank loved teaching and started teaching in 1962. He was told he was the first male kindergarten teacher in Florida. He taught in Miami, Kentucky, Chicago, the Lower Yukon in Alaska, and Waukegan, Illinois. He had Masters degrees in Special Education and Counseling from the University of Alaska Anchorage, and was an adjunct professor there. He specialized in children and teens with behavior problems and became an expert on gangs. He had his own counseling practice in Anchorage and worked with mental health and substance abuse agencies. He also was a journeyman mechanic and traveled to many countries of the world teaching heavy equipment repair.
Frank had a lifelong passion for motorcycles and called them “his therapist”. He rode more than 1 million miles on many different cycles. He loved long trips at high speeds and has ridden in many different countries. In 1957, he performed his top 40 hit “Class Cutter” on Dick Clark’s America Bandstand and he made the Guinness Book of World Records for watermelon seed spitting.
Frank leaves behind his wife, Bonnie Fuller Ganger; his daughter and son-in-law Marilyn “Marnie” and Brad Schultz of Oregon, WI; his daughter Cecilia Ganger of Palm Coast; his grandchildren Haley, Jacob, Michael, and Cody; his brother Jeffrey Chamberlain of Palm Coast; his former wife Marilyn J. Ganger of Oregon, WI, and many friends.
Memorial services will be held at a later date.
All arrangements are under the direction of Heritage Funeral & Cremation Service, Port Orange, FL
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