Frank Buk, Bachelor Father of the Year

Frank Buk, seated, with his sister and brother. (Courtesy photo)

Over many years in the bakery, we got to know a great number of tradesmen, the people who supplied us with the raw ingredients needed to make our product.

Seeing these fellows regularly was something we looked forward to, and a number of them became good friends. One such was Frank Buk, from Herndon, Kansas, who supplied us with fresh eggs.

Frank was a large man. He was a native of Furnas County, Nebraska, and had attended the Veterinary College at Kansas State. He never married and lived with his mother in Herndon.

Poultry was his game. He sold eggs and he raised chickens, by the thousands. His hatchery operation was large. At its peak he hatched 10,000 baby chicks per week during the spring season. At that time, after World War II, there were still a lot of family farms in Northwest Kansas and Southest Nebraska, and almost every farmer's wife had a flock of chickens, which supplied the family with fryers, then with eggs throughout the year. Surplus eggs were sold through produce stores or home deliveries. Revenue from these eggs pretty much took care of the family groceries for the year.

Frank had a wide trade territory, using the U.S. Post Office to send his baby chicks to destinations throughout the Midwest.

It was fun in those days to go into the Post Office and hear from the back room, the cheep cheep cheep of baby chicks awaiting shipment.

Throughout the year, Frank had fresh eggs to sell. The bakery was only one of Frank's customers in McCook. His product was good -- always fresh -- he was dependable, and his price was competitive, so he also supplied a number of the restaurants in town with eggs. His surplus eggs were shipped to Denver on a regular basis.

But it was not Frank's eggs that made him a favorite vendor. Frank had a knack of attracting good people around him. By the time we knew him Frank was crippled up with bad knees and arthritis.

He continued to make his deliveries each week, but he always had someone with him to help carry the heavy cases of eggs. Often his helper was a friend from Herndon, and in the summertime there was also one, of a large number of young men whom Frank was "helping."

His crew always seemed to be in a good mood and often had stories to share on their way through the bakery, to the front where Frank treated his fellows to coffee and donuts. Often these stories involved Frank's young helper, who took a good deal of friendly kidding, but the bakers also enjoyed kidding Frank about being the head honcho of his "Chicken Ranch."

A small business always has need for an extra pair of hands. The hatchery business is no exception. There is always a lot to do in a hatchery. Feed must be ground, chickens must be fed, cages have to be cleaned, and the maintenance never ends. To aid in the work of the hatchery Frank took in boys who lived in his home and helped out in the hatchery.

Really, helping young fellows, and heading them in the right direction, was Frank's work in life. The hatchery was just the means that he used to accomplish his mission.

In 1983 Frank Buk, the fellow who had never married, and never had children of his own, was chosen as "Father of the Year" by the McCook Gazette, confirming what people in the Herndon area had known for years.

A letter to the Gazette accompanying his nomination of Father of the Year told of the many young men that Frank had befriended over a 37 year period -- "Frank has helped more boys than anyone" -- by one count, 29 in number.

Very often, young men from Southwest Nebraska, or from the northern tier of Kansas Counties came to Frank for help. Some needed a home and a father figure. Some were boys who had minor troubles with the law. It mattered not to Frank. He treated them all the same. Every boy who came to Frank learned to work, and work hard. There were chores, beginning at 5:30 am, before school, and more chores after school.

Even boys out for football or basketball had to cut practice short, because there were chores to do. The location of the hatchery, 1½ miles from town, meant that the boys got plenty of exercise, as there were few times during the year that a boy got a ride to or from school.

Frank had always been involved in activities of the community. He was a member of the Herndon School Board for 12 years, and superintendent of the sunday school for 21 years. He was very active in the Church of Christ in Herndon.

He was always in attendance, though at various times of the year he was exhausted from day and night work at the hatchery and might nod off during a sermon. He was invariably kind, but could be quite direct when he spoke with the minister.

Mrs. Judy Carlson of Trenton, who was pastor of Frank's church, remembers a time when she got a bit carried away in delivering what she considered a very strong sermon. As Frank left the church he shook her hand, and said, "Preacher, that was a fine, powerful sermon -- but would you consider making them a bit shorter in the future." Still, there was a twinkle in his eye as he said it.

Frank was always active with the 4-H and Boy Scouts. It was his involvement with these youth groups that put him in contact with boys needing a helping hand.

In an interview with the Gazette, Buk explained that his involvement with the boys had not been in the sense of providing a foster home, but more of "just a help-work project." Buk liked people generally and viewed his work with the boys as "one of those things that happen when you're willing to help out. They helped me, and I helped them."

All of the boys who stayed at his home over the years worked for him at the hatchery, and through that relationship just "moved in."

Said Frank, "They were all good kids, but I hope I helped make them better." Buk tried to bestow the value of "hard work" to the young men he knew. He always allowed them to accept employment of their own choice, but they knew that as long as they stayed with him they worked at the hatchery.

Even though most of Frank's boys came from Southwest Nebraska or Northwest Kansas, they still were new to the chicken business.

"I don't think there was anyone that ever came to me that didn't ask how long it took to hatch an egg. But you can be sure that by the time they left they knew every step of our operation".

Frank's boys usually stayed with him from two to six years. Each graduated from Herndon High School, and they generally moved on after graduation. All were different, and Frank enjoyed the different and unique experiences he shared with each one. He always encouraged the boys to further their education. Some of them went on to college. Others went straight to work.

Frank told about one of his boys, Randy Weber, who at the time had an important position -- head of the Ag Stabilization and Convservation Service (ASCS) office in Washington.

"He stayed with me all during his high school years ... He got his start with me working at the hatchery. I think we did all right."

Frank told of visits from his "boys."

"They always come back to see me and stay for a few days just like we were part of a family." At holiday time Frank very often had one of his "old boys," home on vacation, with him when he delivered eggs to the bakery.

It was gratifying to see how pleased the boys were to be "home" and helping Frank once more, and to see how pleased and proud Frank was to have them back.

A Gazette reporter asked Frank what he considered the most important thing that he taught his "boys". Frank thought, then answered, "Those boys learned to work. I wasn't a slave-driver, but all those boys learned to work, and to work hard. I always told them -- If you learn to work hard you'll stay out of trouble, you'll be self sufficient, and you'll be all right."

Source: McCook Gazette Archives