Fifty-nine years after Harry G. Frank Jr. left Boys' Latin to fight in World War II, his widow has been presented with the high school diploma he never received.
Patricia Frank of Rockville Centre, N.Y., was invited to graduation ceremonies at the North Baltimore school after she petitioned the State Department of Education for her deceased husband's diploma.
"I'm doing this for my husband," Frank said recently. "It was important for him to get a diploma. It was always in the back of his mind."
Frank attended the ceremony Saturday with her husband's aunt and uncle, Doris and S.P. Beaven of Heron Point in Chestertown. They were seated with members of the school's board of trustees as part of a tribute to Harry Frank for his loyalty and patriotism.
The diploma is stamped with the Class of 1944, the year Harry Frank would have graduated.
Patricia Frank, 72, was working at a school on Long Island, N.Y., when she learned about "Operation Recognition," a graduation ceremony in Massachusetts in 1999 that awarded diplomas to World War II veterans who left school when they enlisted or were drafted. Today, about three dozen states are awarding diplomas to veterans.
"I am going to hang his diploma on the wall along with his medals and picture," Patricia Frank said.
A Baltimore native, Harry Frank left Boys' Latin in the spring of 1943 after one year when he was drafted into the Army. He served in Europe, was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge and received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He died seven years ago at age 70.
Frank, whose family lived on Brighton Street in West Baltimore, was the son of the late Harry G. Frank Sr., a pitcher for the Orioles in the old International League in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
After returning from the war, Harry Frank settled in New York, and met and married Patricia Duffy. They raised three children, Harry III, Susan and Michael Frank, in Nassau County.
Patricia Frank has one more graduation to attend this month. Her grandson, Christopher, will graduate from Oceanside High School in Oceanside, N.Y.