Frank Haley was born on August 4, 1923, in the upstairs front room of the house his great-grandfather bought on Boston Hill Road in Andover. The house, now owned by Dr. Coolidge and his wife Margo, still stands sentinel facing the road and watching Mount Kearsarge from the front and Highland Lake from the rear.

Some of the land once owned by Frank’s grandfather and father is still in the family, divided among the four Haley boys. Frank was the only boy of six children born to Frank Mose Haley and Mertie Carolyn Sleeper.

Frank can tell you all kinds of stories about what it was like to live in East Andover in the days of his youth. Stories about the two-room school house, plowing snow, making cider, and putting food up. Stories about driving the horse, cutting ice for the ice house on Highland Lake, the railroad, and farming.

Frank went to the two-room school house that is in East Andover behind the Grange Hall. He had to sweep the floors of the school once every day for a week because “the boys” borrowed the janitor’s broom handle to use for a pole vault. When it was discovered missing, the teacher declared none of the kids could go out to recess unless someone owned up to taking it, so he said he did it. Everyone wanted to go outside, and they were all getting punished. It just didn’t seem fair.

His grandfather was a farmer. He had sheep and goats and made prize-winning cheese. Frank helped with the garden and the farming. They had a big garden of red kidney beans, potatoes, corn, and other vegetables. He had to get the corn and beans cultivated before he could go swimming.

They farmed with a horse named Babe, and Frank used the horse to pull the cultivator. That garden was so big that by the time he got the corn and beans done, he was too tired to go swimming. It was just too far to walk.

“Everyone was always busy those days. You learned to work young,” said Frank, as he reminisced about his early days in Andover. His mom was busy all the time. In the daytime she did outside chores and cooking, and at night she sewed on her treadle Singer sewing machine. Frank said, “She was the best cook you ever did see. She used to make baking powder biscuits or cream of tartar biscuits. They were the best ever.”

You could see as he was talking that he almost could taste those biscuits and see that farm the way it used to be.

Frank said, “I have almost always lived in New Hampshire, except when I was in the Marines in World War II.” Frank served his country nobly in World War II, earning two Purple Hearts. Like a lot of veterans of our many wars, he doesn’t talk much about it.

He worked many jobs. He had his own sash and door business until it burned to the ground in 1968. He worked for the railroad and had a long career in the lumber business, working first for other companies and then owning Haley Lumber, which he started when he was 65, the age most people retire. He retired only after his eyesight got too bad to continue, when he was 80.

July 25, 2014 marked the 49th anniversary of his marriage to his wife Anne. It is well-known that Frank’s favorite job was helping to raise his boys. When Anne and Frank married, he had two children by a previous marriage, a boy and a girl. The girl, Joanne, lived with her mother in California.

Anne had three boys. Not long after they were married, Frank adopted Anne’s boys, and they became one big Haley family. He taught all four of the Haley boys many things. He taught them to work hard and do as they were told and be honest. He also passed on the things his mother and father taught him. He taught them plumbing, wiring, and building, too.

Frank has been an active member of the Andover community for many years. He was a member and past president of the Andover Lions Club for 20 or 25 years. He was a member of the volunteer fire department. He was also instrumental in getting the town ambulance. He drove it for five or six years and during that time helped to deliver twin girls.

Frank was a member of the Odd Fellows for 30 years, holding Noble Grand and District Deputy offices, and still supports them. He was a member of the Lumberman’s Association. He was a deacon in the East Andover Congregational Church for about 15 years.

Every year for the past 11 years, Frank has walked in the Blind Awareness Walk-A-Thon that takes place each June. He has been the top individual fundraiser for this walk for 10 years in a row, bringing in a total of $45,524. The New Hampshire Association for the Blind provides vision rehabilitation services for New Hampshire people of all ages who, like Frank, are blind or visually impaired.