Frank S. Kapral

1929 - 2020

East Lyme - Captain Frank S. Kapral, USCG (Retired), 91, of East Lyme, passed away at his son's home in Palm Bay, Fla. in the early hours of March 17, 2020, after a long struggle with dementia and other health issues. He was in the company of his wife of 68 years, Doris, and family at the time of his passing.

He was a well-known member of the Southeastern Connecticut community, having served for 26 years as an instructor, coach, assistant athletic director and business manager of athletics at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London. Born Feb. 15, 1929, in Courtdale, Pa., Frank was the youngest of five children. He excelled in athletics at Luzerne High School, where he graduated in 1946, and went on to wrestle and play football for Wyoming Seminary for an additional two years after high school.

Following graduation from Wyoming Seminary, Frank attended Michigan State University where he was a standout football player and wrestler from 1948 to 1952. He was a National AAU 191-pound champion in wrestling and earned All-American recognition as a first-string offensive guard on the 1951 undefeated Michigan State football team, which ranked second in the nation. Later that year, Frank was selected to play in the Blue-Gray Football Classic, where he captained the Blue Team and earned a position on the All-Time Blue Team for his outstanding performance. His accomplishments did not end on the field. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and won the Potsy Ross Award for Outstanding Student/Athlete during his tenure at Michigan State.

In 1952, Frank was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and played for them briefly before being called to active duty as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War period. Following his military service, he began a career as a teacher and coach at two Michigan high schools and Dartmouth College. In 1958, Frank arrived at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he became the head wrestling coach and an assistant football coach under Professional Football Hall of Fame member, Otto Graham. While coaching at the Academy, he helped lead the 1963 Coast Guard Academy football team to an undefeated season and a trip to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Fla. He later served as head coach of the Coast Guard Academy football team for two seasons.

Frank served as varsity wrestling coach at the Coast Guard Academy for seven seasons, posting a 56-14-4 record and producing a number of New England champions. He founded the Coast Guard Invitational Wrestling Tournament, which grew from six to eighteen schools under his leadership and included some of the finest wrestling talent in the country. He was also appointed to the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee for the New England States in 1962, and served as commissioner of the Southeastern Connecticut Interscholastic Wrestling Officials Association for over a decade.

Frank's focus on coaching did not end at the college level. He took his programs to the community of Southeastern Connecticut, founding the Coast Guard Academy's Small Fry Wrestling Program for boys between the ages of four and eighteen in the 1960s, through which hundreds of young people across New England learned the sport. Due to significant community interest and strong participation in these wrestling programs, many area high schools ultimately adopted wrestling into their varsity athletic programs. He was also an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and coached Pee Wee Football for the Town of East Lyme for five seasons. He taught religious education at St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in New London and was the first lay-person to serve in that capacity at the time.

At the Academy, Frank served on the permanent commissioned teaching staff and earned his Master of Arts degree in Physical Education. When his coaching days were behind him, he remained a fixture at the Academy, serving as the business manager of athletics until his retirement in 1984, by which time he had risen to the rank of captain. Following retirement, he stayed active in the community and served as a substitute teacher. He also was an active member and daily communicant at St. Mathias Catholic Church, volunteered at the Bayview Nursing Home and delivered meals with the Meals on Wheels program for twenty five years.

Frank's career accomplishments were many. He was inducted into the Luzerne County Athletic Hall of Fame, the Wyoming Seminary Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976, and the Coast Guard Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979. He was named Man of the Year for New England College Wrestling in 1988. He authored two widely used textbooks published by Prentice Hall, Coach's Illustrated Guide to Championship Wrestling, 1964, and Coach's Illustrated Guide to Championship Football, 1967. After his retirement, he was named a professor emeritus at the Coast Guard Academy.

Frank's ultimate accomplishment, however, was his family. He and his wife Doris met in high school and married in 1951. Together, they raised six children and lived more than 60 years in Southeastern Connecticut. As Frank was known to say, "to be successful in the game of life, you must develop three kinds of bones, a funny bone, a wish bone, and a backbone: a funny bone – so you don't take yourself so seriously that you can't enjoy a laugh at your own expense; a wishbone – for your dreams and ambitions; and a backbone – for the perseverance and strength to rise each day and go to work to make your dreams and ambitions come true." Frank had all three types of bones, and he is and will always be a source of inspiration and joy to his family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Doris; his sister, Mary Kokinda of Courtdale, Pa.; and his six children: Linda Kapral Papp of Fairfax Station, Va. and her husband Admiral Robert Papp, USCG (Ret.), Lisa Moukawsher of Ladera Ranch, Calif., Regina Turgeon of Norwich and her husband Michael, Renee Pendleton of Winter Garden, Fla. and her husband Commander Fred Pendleton, USCG (Ret.), Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Kapral, USA (Ret.) and his wife Mary, of Palm Bay, Fla. and Kerri LeBeau of East Lyme and her husband Greg. Frank and Doris have ten grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.

Frank is predeceased by his parents, George and Helen Kapral; brothers, George, John and Michael Kapral; and one son-in-law, Commander E. James Moukawsher, USCG.

A Funeral Mass was held Saturday, March 21, at the historic St. Joseph Catholic Church in Palm Bay, Fla. The Rite of Committal and burial will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations made in memory of Frank be directed to Catholic Charities of Central Florida, www.cflcc.org. Please visit www.beachfuneralhome.com for additional information and access to the guestbook.