Frank L. Kooistra

Frank L. Kooistra, age 79, passed away on August 10, 2022.  Beloved husband to the late Judith (nee: Ohles).  Loving father to Nathaniel Kooistra.  Devoted son to the late Lambert and Mary Ellen Kooistra (nee: Wilson).  Uncle to Cynthia Kelly (Kevin), Kurt Schueler (Brian), Hank Schueler (Laurie), Orion Kooistra (Kara), Kate Niedermeyer (Patrick) and Susan Schueler, deceased.  Great uncle to many nieces and nephews.  Brother to John E. Kooistra and Karen Callahan, deceased.

Frank had an interesting life. Perhaps two lives plus, as schizophrenia set in late in college, adding challenges and complications that the rest of us don’t have to face on top of our usual tribulations. Until that time, Frank’s achievements were substantial. He attended Kenyon College, a prestigious and demanding liberal arts institution where he did not shy away from notoriously difficult classes if they interested him. He lettered four years on Kenyon’s perennial national champion swim team and served as the president of his fraternity (Phi Kappa Sigma). After graduating, he earned a master’s degree in English at Case Western Reserve University in spite of the deepening onset of his malady, and went into college teaching. About that time, things began to unravel, fracturing any momentum Frank could muster that would lead to a stable life. Even so, after ten years of drifting, he went on to earn the Ph.D at the University of Alberta in Canada, but most importantly, he became medicated for his condition. This changed the world, allowing him to teach in the Kent State University system for 22 years until he retired at age 70. During that time, he met and married Judy Ohles for a happy union. They adopted their beloved son, Nate, in 2002. After Judy succumbed to cancer in 2011, following a long battle, Frank moved into assisted living where he wrote a unique and well-received book titled, Assisted Living, his third book of published poetry. Frank was a kind, extraordinarily generous and humane person, proclivities that never flagged.With his passing, a rich layer has disappeared from the people whose lives he graced. 

Inurnment at Riverview Cemetery, 1023 West 3rd St., Port Clinton Ohio, Friday August 19th at 2pm. (Everyone Please Meet At Cemetery).  Services Entrusted To A. Ripepi & Sons Funeral Home, Middleburg Hts. (West of I-71)

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