Frank Dieckgraeff
Posted on: July 6, 2009 | Metco | Comments Off | Print Article | Rate Post:
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Frank Dieckgraeff
February 23, 1934- June 20, 2009
Longtime Seward resident, Frank Dieckgraeff, 75, died June 20, 2009 at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, surrounded by family.
Frank was born in Strasburg, Colorado and was raised on a farm near Harrisburg, Oregon. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers from 1953-1956. Frank married Barbara Miller on July 21, 1955 following his tour of duty in Korea. He returned to Oregon to work in the logging industry until 1965 when he and Barbara moved their family to Seward.
Frank worked all over Alaska for Frontier Rock and Sand from 1965 to 1970, and was at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 when oil was discovered. In 1970, he started Metco Diesel Service and worked on commercial fishing vessels in Seward, Kodiak, Adak, Yakutat and Dutch Harbor. In 1973 he founded Metco Redi-Mix to provide concrete in the Seward area, and in 1975 the business was expanded to include sand and gravel, excavating and construction services. The family business was incorporated as Metco, Inc. in 1976 and Frank was active in its operation until his death.
His family said Frank “lived his life the way he wanted to and said what he wanted to say. His work was his hobby and he loved to work. He was always thinking about how to do things differently and more efficiently. He was the happiest when he was operating heavy equipment, moving gravel or seeing one of his mechanical ideas realized.” Being a great story teller, he loved to tell about his time “on the farm”, logging in the woods, the places he had worked around Alaska and the different projects he was involved with.
Frank was dedicated to the Seward Community. He contributed countless hours of his time plus truckloads of materials for various charitable projects and community improvements. Frank often joked that there wasn’t a block in Seward that he hadn’t worked on. He was well-known for his integrity, his quality of work, and his extensive work with rivers and creeks. Over the past 30 years he was honored several times for his efforts during floods in the Seward area.
Frank is survived by his wife of 54 years, Barbara Dieckgraeff, two sisters in Oregon and an extended family in Alaska, the West Coast, Midwest, East Coast and Germany including children, grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.
A celebration of Frank’s life will be held at 2pm on July 18 at the Cruise Ship Terminal in Seward followed by a gathering at American Legion Post # 5, 402 Fifth Avenue in Seward,
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the SEWARD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, Frank Dieckgraeff Memorial, P.O. Box 933, Seward, Alaska 99664. Donations will be used to help Seward seniors in need.
