Franklin "Frank" Litchy

Franklin “Frank” Litchy, age 86 of Melrose, passed away on June 9, 2024 at Cura Care Center in Melrose, Minnesota, with family present.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 19 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Marvin Enneking officiating. Inurnment will be in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at the church prior to the funeral.

Frank was born at home on Riverside Avenue in Melrose, where he lived his entire life until moving into Park View assisted living and then Pine Villa (Cura) Care Center. When the weather was nice he could always be found sitting in his front porch where he could watch the cars and people go by. He could spend hours just reading the daily paper, listening to the Twins, enjoying a cold beer, and having a quiet chat with anyone who stopped by. He enjoyed taking leisurely drives around town and to St. Cloud to get “good deals.” He loved ordering gizmos, clothes and coins from catalogs and TV and claimed he would use them all someday. In later years, Frank loved being taken for drives around town and through the cemeteries where he would provide commentary on everyone he used to know. Though he had lived a solitary life, Frank appreciated and thrived on the love shown him in his last years by the caring staff at the nursing home. 

Frank was always described as shy, but incredibly smart. He experienced a life-changing car accident at age 21 in which he lost fingers and and toes, yet persevered to return to work at Jennie O Foods for 39 years. Frank was a humble man of faith. He had a quiet sense of humor, and there was a gentleness about him which will be missed.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, Wilfred and Anna (Michael) Litchy, siblings, Jerome and Blanche Litchy, infant brother, and sister-in-law, Arlene Litchy. 

He is survived by his brothers, Charles Litchy of Stillwater and James (Carol) Litchy of Melrose. He is also survived by his nieces and nephews, Mary Litchy Schwieters, Beth Ann Volk, Amy Brustuen, Michelle Weiler, Robert Litchy, and Anne-Marie Hotary.