Original Drawings & Model Commentaries:

AIA Drawing #1
(11 inches X 17 inches)


 

Frank Lubenthaul: 1901-                                                           Scottsdale, AZ
 

Copyright  © 1992 - 2006  Jim Branscum Art Studio
All Rights Reserved

Frank (91) was chosen as my first model for what to become the Aging in America art project.  He was selected as a model for the initial commission of three drawings by James R. Branscum,  the owner administrator of Fairelane Nursing Centre and other long term care facilities in and around the Detroit area.  I felt Frank was the epitome of dignity,  which was the criteria for the original commission. Frank's humanity was evident in his humor,   friendships,  pride in America and love for his family.

Frank came into my life at the home of a friend who had invited the two of us to share a Thanksgiving meal with his family and a few other friends.  The smile that graced Frank’s face never left him as he told jokes and selected stories of his life in the insurance business in Chicago.   The times were hard in many ways,  but Frank’s sharp mind,  tireless energy and sense of humor saw him through.  Frank not only survived the tough streets of Chicago;  he thrived and prospered in that climate of adversity.  After a wonderful Thanksgiving meal,  I asked Frank to be the model for the first drawing of the trilogy commission.

When I arrived at his home to begin background research,  Frank was sitting in his backyard under the shade of a large orange tree listening to a Cubs baseball game on the radio.  I asked if he would mind telling me a little about his life.  He turned off the radio and said,  "It took me ninety years to get here.  How long do you have to listen?" "All day if you can spare the time,"  I answered,  turning on my tape recorder.   It had been a long time since I had sat with anyone over eighty while he told his life’s story -- not since I was a young boy at my grandmother’s feet listening to stories about friends and relatives long since passed away.  I loved to listen.   It was the same between me and Frank that afternoon.

Frank first worked on a farm before migrating to the city.  He worked at numerous jobs before and during World War 11 before moving to Chicago to drive a cab.  "Fought City Hall and got my own cab license,"  he said. "Ended up owning numerous major cab companies in large cities all over Illinois."  He began an insurance company to insure cab drivers and their cabs.  His company is now one of the largest insurance brokerages in Chicago.  He worked in insurance twenty-eight years until his retirement in his mid seventies.  He sold out his interest and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Frank lives with his wife at their home in Scottsdale.  He stopped driving "at about ‘91" and rides a bicycle each day for exercise and listens to baseball on the radio.  "Just like I did as a boy," he says.  At the time Frank was selected as a model, the Aging in America project had not been considered and the model selection criteria was not in existence.  The only criteria used in selecting Frank as my first model was the humanity and dignity expressed in his attitude and actions shown at that Thanksgiving meal and confirmed during my first visit.

I met with Frank two more times.   He spoke of his attitudes about aging in a society that glorified youth and ignored the concerns of older Americans.  His success in business relieved him of the economic concerns that many older citizens face in their daily lives.  Frank was aware of those concerns and felt the democratic vote was the only power older Americans really possessed.  Frank’s security in his retirement years was still based on the principles that had guided his entire life,  by the power of the single vote in an American democracy.

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Copyright © 1992 -2006/ All Rights Reserved Jim Branscum Art Studio


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