On Friday afternoon, family, friends, and various community members gathered in Nome to celebrate Franklin D. Okleasik (OH-KLEE-SICK) through the dedication of the Bonanza Tank Farm and adjoining road. Community members shared why this dedication was so meaningful. KNOM’s Davis Hovey reports on how the community of Nome recently honored Franklin.
Franklin D. Okleasik, also known as Frank or, by some, as Frankie, was a life-long community resident of Nome. He served his community in many ways: as a newspaper salesman for the Nome Nugget, as a basketball referee, through his work with Alaska Airlines, and as the tank farm manager for Bonanza Fuel. The CEO of Bonanza Fuel, Scot Henderson, stated that he could rely on Okleasik to solve a problem when no one else could, even when Frankie was not around.
“I’d often say, let’s wait till Frankie gets back, he’ll know what to do. And he always did,” said Henderson, who worked with Okleasik for twenty-four years.
Even though Okleasik held many jobs within the community, one of his main joys was being around a fuel tank farm — any fuel tank farm. That’s what his son, Tom Okleasik, shared at the dedication. “They had visited the Juneau tank farm… it was his vacation, and he loved it,” he said.
Frankie arrived in Nome with his family in 1941 via dog sled, and by 1964, he was starting a family of his own. His son was not the only family member that was present for the dedication. Okleasik’s wife of almost fifty years recalled the first time they saw each other.
“He spotted me on the playground with my students, and that night, he went home and told his mom he was going to marry me, and he hadn’t even talked to me yet,” said LaVonne Okleasik, Franklin’s wife.
Okleasik’s long-term pastor, Karen Sonray of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, summarized how meaningful this dedication was and how it appropriately captured the nature of Okleasik’s vital role to his community which was about more than just delivering fuel.
Sonray said Okleasik was a part of a larger entire fuel tank operation, which “is a passage way to make sure people have heat in their homes.”
The formal resolution officially dedicating the Bonanza Tank Farm and Okleasik Avenue to Franklin was signed on June 27th, but Mayor Richard Beneville had the honor of announcing the dedication during Friday’s happenings. Beneville spoke on behalf of Nome as he said, “The City of Nome expresses the gratitude of its residents to the family of Franklin D. Okleasik for his years of dedicated contributions to the community of Nome.”
Franklin Okleasik passed away in January of 2014, and during his 73 years, LaVonne Okleasik says, “he accomplished what he set out to do.”
