He enjoyed the simple pleasures in life: spending time with his family and friends, hustling his next unsuspecting victim in a game of pool, breaking par at Brown’s Run Country Club, landing a 10-pound muskie, and celebrating every victory — large or small — with an ice-cold adult beverage.
He was all about having a good time. I never met Frank Thomas Dreischarf. For that, I’m sorry.
His obituary appeared in the Journal-News last week. It spoke volumes about the man, the myth, the legend.
“His last known bar fight occurred at the age of 67 with Frank as the clear victor.”
“In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in honor of Frank, to the bar and bartender of your choice.”
Dreischarf, of Middletown, died April 10 at his home. His dash between 1949 and 2023 was packed with a lot of life.
He worked in the printing industry at Dayton Press and Johnson & Hardin Printing Co. for many years after being promoted to executive positions. He was introduced to the owner of Dayton Press when he caddied for him for six years at Moraine Country Club in Kettering.
He was a scratch golfer for 25 years and an accomplished fisherman who thoroughly enjoyed trips to Bear Lake Wilderness Camp in Canada.
Dreischarf and his wife got divorced when their children were young, but he made sure they always spent Mother’s Day with her, even when the holiday fell on his weekend to have the kids.
He never said an “unkind word” about his ex-wife or the man she remarried, Dreischarf said.
“That’s a true gift,” his son said. “He taught us how to be responsible and the duties a man has to his family.”
He also was all about having a good time. He was a regular at about every “dive bar” in Middletown, his son said.
One night, Dreischarf and his son, after a night of drinking, ended up at a bar where patrons needed a tetanus shot to enter, Dreischarf said with a laugh. There was one only light in the place and customers could order any beer they wanted as long as it was Budweiser or Bud Light. The beers were served out of an Igloo cooler.
On this particular night, a man they called Junior walked in the bar, and the owner told him he wasn’t welcomed and he had to leave. He said he didn’t want a drink. He just wanted to apologize to Dreischarf.
“I could feel my dad tense up,” Dreischarf said about his 5-foot-8, 140-pound father as the 6-foot-1, 215-pound man stood behind him.
The man laid a $5 bill on the bar, apologized and left.
When asked why the man apologized, Dreischarf told his son the last time he saw Junior in a bar, he walked up, and without asking, took a sip of Dreischarf’s beer, one the 10 Commandments of the Bro Code.
Dreischarf then decked Junior. The bar fight lasted one punch.
“He was something else,” Dreischarf said about his father who had three other children, Brad Dreischarf, Tawyna Kline and Ediann Hilgeford.
That short temper also showed at Taco Bell when Dreischarf’s orders were messed up and at KFC when the drive-though clerk told Dreischarf they were out of chicken.
“The little things mattered to him,” Dreischarf said. “He truly was one of a kind.”
FRANK THOMAS DREISCHARF FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
Celebration of life: 1 p.m. Sunday, April 23 at Truth Tabernacle 6879 Hamilton-Middletown Road, Middletown, with Pastor Daniel N. Hidlebaugh officiating. Immediately following the service, refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall of the church.
Arrangements: Herr-Riggs Funeral Home, 210 S. Main St., Middletown.
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