LEONARD DEFRAIN ~ A PEEK AT HIS OWN PAST
by Janis Stein

Join in the continuation as Leonard DeFrain returns to Harbor Beach after his service during World War II. Leonard also reflects on his love for coaching Huron County’s finest.

From his hospital bed, Leonard gained a new perspective on the evils of war. One Navy man came in shell-shocked, not knowing where he was. Others suffered unspeakable injuries. The worst came, though, when Leonard witnessed the abuse and mistreatment of some of the patients. He had seen enough.

After being released from the hospital, Leonard returned to Harbor Beach where he worked on the local golf course. His love of sports and his entrepreneurial ambition led him to open his own business. Leonard first opened up his sports shop/insurance business on the property where Barclay Furniture now stands. In time, he moved to a new location east of the Polewach store and west of the Rexall drugstore. Leonard had always been interested in sports, and his shop carried every season’s sports equipment from guns and baseballs to ice skates and roller skates. To supplement his sporting goods business, he also sold automobile and home insurance.

Leonard’s good fortune continued when he met Eileen Baslock and later married her in 1961. For Leonard, meeting Eileen was the best thing that ever happened to him. Things were looking up.

Soon Leonard and Eileen expanded their family, with two little girls adding joy to their days. The family of four lived in an upstairs apartment Leonard owned, the building located across the street from his business. Pic recalled with fondness his own childhood days, and he knew the DeFrain family needed to make a change. They had outgrown the apartment, and the girls needed more room and a place to play outdoors.

During the 1960s, a man could scarcely find a house to rent in Harbor Beach, and so Pic couldn’t believe his good fortune when he had the opportunity to lease a house from the Free Methodist Church, the only provision being the DeFrain’s would rent the house for one year.

It took little time for Leonard and Eileen to realize they had made a big mistake.

The house contained a little potbellied stove, which adequately heated the home’s first level. The DeFrain’s wish for space was stymied, however, when they realized the house was a firetrap. During the cold, winter months, all four of the DeFrain’s camped out in the living room, using the space as a makeshift bedroom. No one dared sleep upstairs, for if the house would have caught on fire, the family would never have escaped. The DeFrain’s put in their year’s time in the little house – after all, a deal was a deal. In retrospect, however, Pic figured they would have been better off if they forked over the year’s rent and moved out after the first week. At least he would have slept better!

Because of the lease, Leonard and Eileen lived in their rented space for a year, though shortly after renting the house, Leonard and Eileen purchased a home. Though some folks only gave the “new” DeFrain house a passing glance, Eileen had fallen in love with it immediately, and they would make their home within its walls for the rest of their days together. Bit by bit, they remodeled as their savings allowed, lowering the ceiling one year and improving another feature the next. Leonard and Eileen were making their way.

After about five years of owning his own business, Leonard realized he could no longer pull enough business from the residents of the small town of Harbor Beach and its surrounding area to support his sports shop. Big supermarkets moved into Michigan, selling sporting goods cheaper than Leonard could buy them at the wholesale price. Leonard decided to close up shop.

In the mid-1960s, he gained employment with the State of Michigan’s highway department where he’d work for 17 years. Leonard became a Project Clerk with MDOT, typing up forms and performing clerical duties. Though he worked in the office, his job took him around the state. Often he would be gone for the week, returning on the weekend to reunite with his wife and daughters.

When Leonard met Eileen, she had been working as a clerk at the drugstore. Leonard, concerned what the future might hold and, having planned his own retirement at the age of 18, advised Eileen to seek different employment. A clerking job could end with little warning, and Leonard thought in the event something happened to him, Eileen should hold a job with a bit more stability.

Eileen followed Leonard’s thought process and gained part-time employment as a nurse’s aide at the Harbor Beach hospital. Admittedly a bit old-fashioned, Leonard wanted Eileen at home too, and, together they worked to raise their family. Eileen stayed home with her daughters during the week while Leonard was away working his MDOT job. Eileen spent her Friday, Saturday and Sunday working at the hospital, with Leonard home with the girls. Because they worked together, they only needed to hire a babysitter to cover their absence on Friday.

On November 29, 1966, the Daniel J. Morrell ran into trouble on Lake Huron when it battled 70 mph winds. Eileen DeFrain was working at the hospital the following day when sailor Dennis Hale was brought in suffering from frostbite after having floated on an open raft during his almost 40-hour ordeal. The hospital busily geared up to handle the additional crewmembers requiring aid, but Hale alone had survived.

Leonard had heard about a floating life ring and the missing Morrell on the radio during his ride to work on the 29th. Leonard took the following day off work. Harbor Beach was abuzz with almost every law enforcement agency imaginable present and accounted for. Leonard remained on the banks of the marina, watching the helicopters flying in and out and capturing it all on his 16 mm movie camera. And, while Harbor Beach rejoiced that Hale had survived, this shoreline town mourned in silence the many sailors who had died.

Eileen worked as a part-time aide at the hospital for 27 years, knowing she could move into a full-time position should she ever need the finances to support herself. Her part-time job complemented the family income nicely; Leonard and Eileen complemented each other nicely, too. The secret to their happy marriage – they never argued over religion, politics or money!

The couple never argued about sports, either, though Eileen told Leonard he’d never make a greeter at Wal-Mart. He’d likely spend all his time talking about sports and forget about everyone else!

Throughout his life, Pic shared his love of sports through coaching. Pic first caught the coaching bug at just 17 years of age, when his fascination with sports led him to the Harbor Beach Community House where he coached a Saturday basketball league. By 19, Pic was coaching high school sports at Our Lady of Lake Huron (OLLH) in Harbor Beach. Through the years, he coached basketball, baseball, football, track and even one year of golf. He coached teams in Ruth, Port Hope and Port Austin – teams scattered throughout the Thumb. Though the criticism from the stands was sometimes high and the monetary pay was low – and most often nil – for Leonard the rewards came through the smiles of the children on the court and the field.

Huron County’s rural schools continue to benefit from Pic’s sage coaching advice and, while the children don’t always win, they learn lessons to last a lifetime. The children appreciate Leonard a great deal, too. In 2006, one of Pic’s nine-year-old athletes gave him a little letter thanking him for coaching her team. After handing him the note, she left, only to return a few minutes later. Holding out her hand, she explained she had forgotten to give him something. In his hand, Leonard received 15 cents – a little girl’s sincere offering and her contribution to help Leonard pay for the gym rental. To Leonard, the sincerity in those 15 cents offered meant more than what the big coaches make!

While the children learned from Leonard, he, too, learned from them. Leonard treated the children like his own. When he caught one young man smoking, Pic disciplined him accordingly, kicking him off the team. Though the coach’s response didn’t impress the boy at the time, last year the young man – all grown up now – told Leonard he always thought of him as a second father, a fine compliment in Pic’s eyes.

During the 1960s, Pic developed an interest in local history. When his close friend, Dale Burley, began to explore the history of Harbor Beach, Pic’s interest heightened as well. Pic’s moderate hobby soon turned into a passionate collection of local historical information.

Leonard enjoys sharing his knowledge with anyone who cares to listen and, going one step further, he continues to share his love of history through regular columns in local newspapers. At 88 years of age, Leonard frets about the area’s history that has been lost, but he takes comfort in knowing he has helped preserve what he could.

Every now and again, our paths cross with people who leave an impression to last a lifetime. Pic DeFrain is one of those people. Thank you, Leonard, for educating and entertaining your readers, and for sharing the history in your collection, rather than hoarding it. You are a gem.

© 2008 Stein Expressions, LLC