Frank Marks, 75, of Greenfield

Graveside Services:  Will be held on Saturday, July 15, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. at the Greenfield Cemetery with full military honors by the Greenfield American Legion Head-Endres Post No. 265 and V.F.W. Post No. 5357 and at 12:00 p.m. a lunch will be held at the United Methodist Church in Greenfield.  Once there has been prayer for the meal and everyone has their food and is seated there will be a time of sharing food and memories. Pastor Melinda Stonebraker will be the first to share and then the floor will be opened for anyone to share memories of Frank.  The Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge of the professional arrangements.  Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Memorials:  In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials directed to the Greenfield United Methodist Church.

The moment you met Frank you knew by his accent that he was from Jersey City, New Jersey. He had a challenging childhood growing up on the streets with his best friend Joey. It was there that he first learned plumbing as he worked to support himself. As teenagers Frank and Joey joined the military as part of the 101^st Airborne and served in Vietnam.

In Vietnam Frank earned a purple heart and numerous medals. Tragically, he left Vietnam when he was severely injured and his best friend was killed. This happened when the helicopter they were riding in was shot down. Frank was proud of his service for his country and was quick to salute any American flag he noticed when traveling down the road.

After the war Frank faced more hard times and was involved in substance abuse. Thankfully, he put all that behind him through the ministry of Alcoholics Anonymous. Over some fifty years of sobriety, Frank was proud to sponsor countless others in their quest for sobriety.

In 1973 Frank met the love of his life, Ann Ibbotson. They married in 1978. Frank loved to mention how he was “adopted” into Ann’s family. He was visiting with Ann at Christmas. Ann’s mother Marjorie always hung stockings on Christmas Eve for each of her children. Frank rejoiced when he woke up the next morning to find a stocking with his initial on it. He said from that point on he never referred again to his mother-in-law as Marjorie. It was always “Mom.” Alan Ibbotson made the adoption official by “baptism” when he had Frank look into a water-filled post hole right before Al dropped a post into the hole.

Frank was trained as a plumber and electrician. He loved to work with his hands. He was not afraid of work. In his quest to take care of Ann he would sometimes work seven days a week, sometimes to Ann’s annoyance. However, they also loved to work together on various projects. Frank was also quick to volunteer to help friends and often people he had just met.

Several years ago, Frank and Ann moved to Greenfield, Iowa to be closer to family. Frank and Ann delighted in the slower pace of small-town Iowa and their wonderful neighbors. They also delighted in spending more time with family including the numerous grand-nephews and grand-nieces. The nephews and nieces loved Uncle Frank. One of them even renewed Frank’s “baptism” by soaking Frank with a hose as he sat outside relaxing one hot summer day.

Frank fought many battles during his lifetime: rough streets in Jersey City when growing up, Vietnam, overcoming addiction, helping others overcome addiction, etc. His last battle was with heart and kidney issues. In each he was ultimately victorious. In the last battle he owed the victory to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Loved ones reminded Frank that Jesus has always been truly God. Then two-thousand years ago Jesus became truly Man to pay our sin debt in full. All we must do is believe in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Frank responded by saying softly but firmly “I believe.”

Frank is survived by his wife Ann, his sister Teri Sanborn, and her husband Roy, and his brother Tommy Marks. He was preceded in death by his brothers Dennis and Peter Marks and his parents.