Kansas’ oldest veteran dies at 105

Frank Bozick, Frontenac, served in Army during WWII

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Bozick

SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN

Frank Bozick salutes fellow members of Frontenac American Legion John F. Derby Post 43 in May during a ceremony at Sunset Manor at which Bozick was honored with Kansas House of Representatives resolution 6027 which commended him as the oldest living veteran in Kansas.

 

By NIKKI PATRICK

The Morning Sun

Posted Aug 10, 2008 @ 01:11 AM

FRONTENAC —

The oldest living veteran in Kansas, Frank Bozick, 105, died at 2:40 a.m. Saturday at Sunset Manor Nursing Home, Frontenac.
Born Feb. 11, 1903, in Frontenac, Bozick volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II.
“He was 38, and the other men in his unit called him ‘Pops’ because he was so much older than them,” said Ron Wattelet, vice commander of John F. Derby American Legion Post, Frontenac. “Frank went in because of his ability to repair heavy equipment in civilian life, and repaired tanks.”
Landing at Normandy shortly after the initial invasion, he and a buddy got a jeep and went into Paris, two days after the city had been liberated from the Germans.
“That was the happiest day of the trip, because they really had their arms out to Americans,” Bozick said in an interview several years ago.
He was a proud member of the Frontenac American Legion.
“Even at 105, he regularly came to our meetings, until he just got to the point where he physically couldn’t,” Wattelet said. “He was very bright and alert, very positive and good to have around. Frank will be sorely missed.”
“He was more like a dad to me than anything else,” said Duke Locke, also a post member. “He used to drive around Frontenac in a 1988 blue Ford Ranger pick-up truck, and on May 8 he called me to come see him. He signed the pink slip on that truck over to me. I didn’t want to take it, but he was adamant that he wanted me to have it.
“It’s sitting in my driveway now, and when I look at it, it breaks my heart.”
Locke said he had been planning on visiting Bozick this weekend.
“Frank loved my little dog, Mr. Peanut, and asked me to bring him the next time I came over,” he said.
Locke, Wattelet and other post members had worked to see that Bozick got the recognition he deserved as the state’s oldest veteran. At one time, there had been some controversy, and an Independence veteran had been hailed as the oldest veteran.
Duane “Buzz” Hill, post commander, said in a 2007 interview that this misinformation may have originated from a Coffeyville Journal story which stated that the Independence man was the oldest living member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas.
Finally, the historian at American Legion National Headquarters, Indianapolis, sent a letter confirming Bozick as the oldest living military veteran in Kansas.
He was officially recognized by the state during a 2007 Veterans Day program at Frontenac High School. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius sent him greetings.
“You have the thanks of the entire state of Kansas for your lifelong dedication to protecting our nation,” she wrote.
“This is the most wonderful day of my life,” Bozick responded.
Locke had been working on an additional honor for Bozick — a proclamation from President George W. Bush.
“He was a real fan of the president, and it would have meant so much to him,” Locke said. “I had been working with Rep. Nancy Boyda’s office, and had just gotten word that the proclamation had been approved. I sent an e-mail informing them of Frank’s death, but I still hope that the president goes along with the proclamation.”
In civilian life, Bozick owned a gas station at the corner of Rose and Broadway, Pittsburg, for 42 years. He never married, but cared for his mother and several of his siblings.
Arrangements are pending, and will be announced by the Friskel Funeral Home, Frontenac.