Frank Rickman

News Obituary Article

CLAYTON: Frank Rickman, 79, aided movie makers locally

By DERRICK HENRY

A modern-day Davy Crockett, Frank Rickman led wagon trains, built Georgia's first ski resort, helped bring the movie industry to Rabun County and caught wild boars, black bears and moonshiners with his bare hands.

"Frank had a motto: 'If I can't handle it with my bare hands, it will go free,' " said his friend Ed Spivia of Gainesville.

In the mid-1950s, Walt Disney and his production company came to North Georgia to film the Civil War adventure "The Great Locomotive Chase," bringing their own train by rail.

"When they arrived, they didn't have the equipment to remove the locomotive," said Mr. Rickman's daughter Lisa Tice of Greenville, S.C. "Father stepped out from the crowd, went up to Walt Disney and said, 'I can do it.' "

The Rabun County native was true to his word and became invaluable to the movie crew. "Disney was so impressed that he tried to hire Frank and take him to California," said Mr. Spivia, head of the Georgia Film Commission in the 1970s.

Mr. Rickman turned him down, remaining faithful to his roots. "He knew every place in these mountains, every valley, mountain and stream, and he knew the people," said his daughter.

That vast knowledge led to his appointment to the Georgia Film Commission in the early 1970s. By 1985, he had participated in the production of 20 movies and 250 TV commercials, including "Deliverance" (1972), "The Long Riders" (1980) and "The Four Seasons" (1981).

For "Deliverance," "Frank cast the local talent, built the sets and added the pig squealing," said Mr. Spivia. He appeared in a background scene in an Army uniform, riding a white horse.

John Franklin Rickman, 79, died Sunday of leukemia at his Clayton residence. The funeral is 3 p.m. today at Clayton First United Methodist Church. SouthCare Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Rickman was born in the Rabun County Jail, where his father, Sheriff Luther Franklin Rickman, lived with his family. As a child, he helped his father as a "catch dog," tackling moonshiners flushed out of their hillside hideouts by deputies.

He was a self-taught contractor. "He studied books and books on European architecture and traveled out West, studying rustic lodges," said his daughter.

Mr. Rickman helped develop Sky Valley ski resort in the late 1960s, doing everything from plumbing to road building to designing the Swiss chalet-style lodge with nothing but the blueprints inside his head.

In 1976, he was appointed Georgia's wagon master for the Bicentennial wagon train, leading his group on horseback from Atlanta to Valley Forge, Pa. They departed on April 14 and arrived in time for the ceremonies on July 4 with President Gerald Ford.

Three years later, Mr. Rickman led another wagon train. "He went from the Golden Isles of Brunswick to the Gold Hills of Dahlonega, going through old state capitals to raise money to put gold back on the Capitol Dome," said Mr. Spivia, then head of the Georgia Tourism Department.

"Frank was a great character, funny as he could be," Mr. Spivia added. "He was a guy that gave more than he got."

Survivors include his wife, Sarah Dickson Rickman; another daughter, Cathy Pietraszuk of Atlanta; two sons, John Rickman of Clayton and Luther Rickman of Glennville; a sister, Evelyn R. Baran of Alexandria, Va.; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

© 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution