Obituary of Frank E. Lambirth

Frank E. Lambirth Frank Lambirth 78 passed away Saturday, February 10, 2007. He is survived by his wife Patricia, their son John of Renton, Washington, and a sister Harolyne Brookshire 87 of Metropolis, Illinois. Frank's parents Harold and Laura Elliot Lambirth preceded him in death. Frank was born June 19, 1928 in Auburn, Kentucky, later moving with his family to Mayfield, Kentucky where he graduated from high school. In 1950 Frank received a B.A from Western Kentucky University where he played football and ran track. In 1951 he earned an M.A. from the University of Kentucky. He met his wife Patricia McClurkin, the proverbial "girl next door" during the fall of his senior year at Western Kentucky University. They married March 29, 1952 in Hagerstown, Maryland. Following his schooling, Frank worked as a cartographer in the Geography Department of the University of Kentucky for an Army Map Service contract from 1952 through 1954. He then worked in a similar position at the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1957 Frank accepted a teaching position in Delano, California, where he taught high school English and English for the foreign born. In 1959 Frank, Patricia, and their son John moved to Placerville, California, where Frank taught English and Creative Writing at El Dorado High School for 29 years. For many years he was English Department chairman, also writing and often directing numerous melodramas performed by students and faculty. Because of his keen almost encyclopedic mind, he became a favorite of many of the brighter students, but he also found ways to relate to all students of varying interests and abilities. At El Dorado he introduced many innovations related to teaching English, especially in writing, and he knew how to bring literature to life even for the reluctant learners. While in Placerville Frank became an avid and accomplished fisherman, raised prize- winning camellias, built an extensive classical music library, and worked extensively with both the city and school libraries to improve the content and quality of their holdings. During this time Frank also taught courses at the University of California, Davis. For several years he taught a course in the supernatural, in which he with other adults and students spent hours sitting in haunted houses at night for field study. Frank also worked as a hypnotherapist to help people lose weight and quit smoking. Frank published his first novel Rivard House in 1979. Numerous other novels followed, sometimes under pen names. He also edited and doctored books by other authors, one which was so successful it was made into a film. Frank retired from teaching in 1988, and he and Patricia moved to Olympia, Washington. Almost immediately he helped form Western Washington Writers, and later a writers' study group, the Puget Sound Writers' Guild, for which he was still the resident writer and leader until his death. His relentless and unselfish goal was to help as many writers as possible into publication. Frank recognized and appreciated quality in art, literature, music, ideas, and especially in people. He was a loyal friend to many, and to those who knew him intimately, a deeply spiritual man. In lieu of flowers the family suggests you make donations to: Washington Talking Books and Braille Library 2021 9th Avenue Seattle, WA 98129 To leave a memory or condolence for the family, click on the "View Guestbook" link below.