William Frinsko, long time resident of Normal, passed away at his home on Friday, April 4, surrounded by close family members. He was 101 years old. He was born on December 9, 1923 in Benld, Illinois to Mike Frinsko and Anna Kolotila. He was the last survivor of 8 children. His father immigrated from the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine/Poland and worked most of his life as a coal miner near Benld.
Two major events had a profound influence on his life; The Great Depression and WWII. As a grade school boy during the Depression, he did what he could to help the family. This included selling 5-cent bags of popcorn at night downtown Benld earning ½ cent per bag. With his younger brother, they earned 25 cents/barrel carting kitchen waste from local taverns by wagon across town to the dump. He enjoyed hunting squirrels and rabbits in nearby woodlands, collecting nuts, taking the family milk cow to pasture and anything else to help feed the growing family. His parents having little formal education prioritized school-work, which he understood was his best way out of the mines.
As a 17 year old, Frinsko graduated high school before the war began and enrolled at the St. Louis Business College. Before departing the local train station, his father put a silver dollar in his hand, and said “good luck.” In St. Louis, he bussed and washed dishes at a small restaurant, which also provided his meals and enough money to pay his rent. Within a year he received a certificate including training in stenography. When the War broke out, he went to Boot Camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Shortly before graduating Boot Camp, he became ill and was sent home. As his older brother Mike was in the Army fighting in Europe, he wanted to contribute to the war effort. He returned to St. Louis and took a warehouse job packing boxes of medical supplies being sent to the front. After some months, he found an opportunity and was hired as a stenographer with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in El Paso, Texas which he held until the war’s end.
In 1945, he enrolled at the University of Illinois where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1950. To earn money for his education, he worked in various jobs on campus; at the infirmary as an aide, and at various sororities in their kitchens. To earn money for room and board, he also worked summers in New Port Walter, Alaska, at a herring reduction plant. His job was shoveling the fish into grinders to make fish oil and fishmeal. He also spent a summer cutting timber in Oregon. He worked with teams of men clearing paths for new power lines.
Being adventurous, he headed west to earn a Master’s in elementary education from the University of Wyoming in 1952. It was there that he married the love of his life, Joan Banks, a teacher. They married in Denver, Colorado in 1953. He later earned an Ed. D. from Wayne State University in Detroit in curriculum development in 1962.
He had a 34 year career in teaching, which included elementary school, High School and both undergraduate and graduate courses at the university level. His first teaching position was in 1945-1946 with a War Emergency Certificate, since he had only one year of college. It was in a rural high school in LaGrange, Wyoming where he taught five classes and coached all sports. Other places where he taught included Green River,
and Laramie, Wyoming; Honolulu, Hawaii; Detroit, Michigan; and Normal, Illinois. He was on the faculty of the University of Wyoming, the University of Hawaii, Wayne State University (Detroit), and last at Illinois State University, retiring as Full Professor in 1984 after 23 years. His principal subjects taught were methods of language arts and social studies. He received the 1969 Bone Distinguished Teacher Award. His passion was training future teachers.
In addition to his teaching, he was a book collector, wood carver, cook, photographer, and uranium prospector. He was a lifelong Democrat and active in local politics. He also contributed letters to the editor of The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) and had articles published in The American Rationalist and Freethought Perspective.
Frinsko led a Centennial project in Benld that recognized those who served in the military from World War I to Desert Storm. The effort was completed in 2005 and is now housed in Macoupin County Library. In 2015 he was inducted in the Gillespie Unified School District “Wall of Honor.”
He was proceeded in death by his parents, wife and siblings (Mary Frinsko, Mike Frinsko, Anastasia Frinsko, Olga Greevsky, John Frinsko, Helen Montessano, and Dorothy Mages). He is survived by his son Michael Frinsko, Winterville, NC. Other survivors include his daughter-in-law Carla (nee Barrows), grandchildren Alex and Emma, nephews, nieces, and cousins.
His enduring values embraced American democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law, separation of church and state, secular humanism, science, skepticism, and universal human rights. He tried to make a difference and was generous of his time and effort in helping others. He admitted his flaws and was humble and compassionate to all he met. He was a good man and will be greatly missed. He was cremated. There will be no visitation and inurnment will be private. A memorial service is being planned.
Kravanya Funeral Home is in charge.
