FRANK STRUNK Jr.

1931 - 2021

Frank Cheatham Strunk, Jr.  
Passed away September 15, 2021. Born July 28, 1931, to Vessie Slaven and Frank Cheatham Strunk, in the town of Revelo, in the mountains of McCreary County, Kentucky, the fifth of eight children. Frank served his country for two years in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict, achieving the rank of PVT-2. Following the war, Frank returned to his beloved home and enrolled in Cumberland College and then attended the University of Kentucky, where he received a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1958. On December 24, 1956, Frank married Barbara Jean Lay who predeceases him. He is survived by their three children Valerie Ann Shea, Vanessa Lynn Strunk, and Frank Strunk, III. In 1960, following the birth of his first child, Frank and Barbara moved to the Washington, DC area, where Frank worked for the National Rural Electric Cooperative. There, he worked with then Secretary of State Dean Rusk, taking electric co-ops to underdeveloped countries, traveling to Ecuador to start that country's electrification. During this time, Frank also served as a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. Some of the materials written for him were recently donated to President Johnson's presidential library in Austin, Texas. Following his work with the National Rural Electric Cooperative, Frank started his own printing and public relations business, Centurion Press and FCS Communications, which remained operating in Rockville, Maryland for 60 years, employing 30 employees during that time. Frank was a multi-talented musician and a virtuoso at the guitar, mandolin, and other instruments. Self-taught from a young age, Frank played bluegrass his entire life and formed music groups in Kentucky, Maryland, and later, Florida, where he moved in 1985. In addition to his love of music, Frank was a prolific reader and writer. While in Florida, he published four novels, "Jordan's Wager,", "Jordan's Showdown," "Throwback," and "Blood Personal." At the end of his life, he returned to the northeast and was lovingly cared for by his three children, and his nephew, Hap Strunk. Frank will be buried in his beloved Kentucky, at a later date. Details can be found at Hickman Strunk Funeral Home, 156 S. Main Street, Whitley City, KY 42653.