For all of us, there are people that we just simply cannot forget. Having known them created memories that simply just don’t go away. We find ourselves thinking of them from time to time and realizing that the simple-ness of their life was really appealing, and something that we could all use a lot more of.
The Station
Growing up in Chivington, it was only natural that many of our friends were in the “east end of the county”, particularly Sheridan Lake. When it came to school districts, it seemed that Brandon was kind of the dividing line between Plainview and Eads. Everything west of Brandon went to Eads, everything east of Brandon went to Plainview. While the school dividing line existed, there really wasn’t a dividing line that set a boundary for relationships. Some of my very best and most trusted friends have been a part of the “east end” community. It has always been a community of rock-solid people, mostly farmers, and good farmers at that. The pride that they have demonstrated in their communities (both Sheridan Lake and Towner) has been something to be envied. At the center of most of it was “the station”. Mike and Karen Benge owned and operated “The Station” along with Plains Parts. The station was a gathering spot. It was a place where land deals were made, lifelong friendships were forged, problems were solved, and memories were created. It was a good place. It was part of the epicenter of the community. Mike ran the station, and Karen ran the parts store. You could get anything you needed there. My first vehicle was a 1960 Chevrolet pickup that my dad bought off of Gene Priddy. Gene ran the South Chivington Grazing Association. That’s a story for another day. My ’60 Chevy had a generator system, rather than an alternator system. Karen always had generators that would fit that old pickup. Most places did not stock them. Karen knew her parts.
Along Came Frank
Back at the station, in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, there came a man by the name of Frank Varady. As I recall, Frank ended up in Sheridan Lake on a harvest crew, fell in love with the little town and ended up staying. Mike put him to work pumping gas and manning the counter at the station. Frank was a really nice man. Frank was the kind of man that took time to know your name, a gifting that most now a days don’t take the time to learn. Frank quickly became the face of the station. It got to the point that you stopped to see Frank, it really didn’t matter if you needed gas or not, you just wanted to see Frank. This was true for anyone who had ever met the man. Travelers from across the country would always make it a point to stop, just to see Frank. Frank became known as the “lolli-pop” man. Every kid that came there always got a “lolli-pop” on Frank. Not the cheap little ones, the big ones with the gooey stuff in the middle. As I got older, I came to realize what a fine gentleman Frank was. I came to know the adult Frank. After returning from college and opening up my own business, one day I received a phone call from Frank Varady. It had been a while since I had seen him, several years. He called to invite Mandy and I over for supper at his house. I knew Frank, but I really didn’t realize that he thought that much of me. We went to his home for supper; it was a very good meal. Frank lived in the yellow house at the elevator that Randy and Rita had lived in. I did not realize that Frank had hosted many people at his home. I learned a lot about Frank that evening that I had not known.
With Time Comes Change
It has been said that the only constant is “change”. I guess we can all agree that this is a true statement. Change came at the station as well. Mike and Karen went their separate ways, and it became Mike and Julie. Julie was and is a nice person, and of course Julie also came to love Frank. I received a phone call from Julie one day telling me that Frank was in the hospital in Eads and not expected to live. I went there to see them. We began to reminisce about Frank and think about what we would do to pay tribute to this man. We didn’t know that much about his family, he didn’t speak of them much, come to find out, he really didn’t have much for family. His family was “Sheridan Lake”. Frank had become a beautiful example of unconditional love. Everyone loved him and he loved everyone in his little community.
What an Impact
Frank died, just as the doctors had predicted. Now it was time to decide how we pay tribute to this man whose only family was a community that he had embraced and that had loved, accepted and embraced him. Mike and Julie decided that we would have the funeral at the Plainview School and bury his body in the Sheridan Lake Cemetery. None of us knew what to expect for crowd size, but we planned for about 200. The ladies from the church prepared beautiful songs for the service, Pastor Gitchell came prepared to eulogize Frank, we had a tough time narrowing down the list of pallbearers, but we wanted to do right by Frank. We did our best. Keep in mind, Frank had no family to attend his funeral. We had no family to reserve seats for and line up for a procession into the gym. Mike & Julie were his family. When the day of Frank’s funeral arrived, what I and hundreds and hundreds of others witnessed was nothing short of unbelievable. People came from all across the United States to honor this man. Custom harvesters from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, people that had never known him more than an encounter at the station, all of the east end, the list went on and on. Nearly 600 people showed up for Frank’s funeral. The number of people that took time to honor Frank was something I have rarely seen. Frank’s life had mattered, a lot!
The Impact of Kindness
Frank Varady’s life was one that was marked with kindness and the power of kindness. Frank’s kindness was evident. It was known, it was obvious, and it was real. How much better would our world be today if we had more Frank Varady’s in it? If we just had more kindness. It really leaves you longing for the way “things used to be.”
