STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

His own two children were already grown when Benjamin Frank was asked to look at the books of a floundering ski hill west of Hailey to see if it could be resuscitated.

As he did an in-depth analysis, Frank fell in love with the possibilities that Rotarun Ski Area could offer to the children of the Wood River Valley and even to its adults.

He rolled up his sleeves and with Jesse Foster spent the next eight years creating a recreational master plan and launching a crowd funding campaign, New Year’s Eve fundraiser and giant ski swap to buy a portable snow gun and compression equipment to bring water from a pond to the snow gun.

He helped get a second water right to extend snowmaking to the upper portions of the mountain. And, with his help, Rotarun improved grooming and extended lighting further up the ski hill, utilizing new energy-efficient fixtures that lit the surface snow better.

Then Frank breathed a sigh of relief as the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation took over, expanded the learn to ski program and began working to get the ski hill open by Thanksgiving or early December for Masters racers and ski racing clinics.

“Ben came into Rotarun at a really critical time as we were trying to rebuild Rotarun,” said Foster, who served as board president while Frank served as treasurer. “He examined all the documents meticulously and helped us get to the point where it could continue to be a great asset to the community. And he not only helped with the books but he jumped in to help with the lifts, fence building—all of that. He was all in, making this little mountain a success. Now we have big lines of Friday night for free skiing, for Wednesday night skiing...”

Benjamin Frank left his mark on many of the Wood River Valley’s community treasures before succumbing unexpectedly to a viral infection last week.

Born in St. Louis, he was a red headed hellion--so smart he knew the answers to the questions his teachers were about to ask before they asked it. As a result, he was bored in school and got into all kinds of mischief, which often ended in trips to the emergency room.

His analytical mind could quickly assess a problem and find a solution. Once, when he was towing his younger sister in a wagon behind his bicycle, he turned a corner too soon, flipping the wagon and spilling her onto the ground. Knowing he would be in the doghouse if his mother saw her crying, he bent down, touched her face near her mouth and said, “I think I see a little smile.” The smile came, they resumed their ride and Mom never knew.

His inquiring mind led him to try psychedelic drugs during his hippie days in Boulder, Colo. during the 1970s. But a near-disastrous experience prompted him to straighten up, cut his hair and make something of himself.

He began seeking to learn as much as he could from anyone willing to teach him and he became a stickler for order and functionality. Armed with an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, he became a business management consultant, sniffing out disorder cases of misappropriation.

Towards the end of his career he was honored for finding ways the state of California had misused tens of million dollars and for setting things on the right course.

“He would tell people that they could make his job easy and be truthful with him or they could be dishonest, but he would eventually get to the truth,” said his partner Marie Gallo.

The happiest days of Frank’s life began on May 1, 2013, when he and Marie moved from California to a new home in the Wood River Valley.

Frank took up mountain biking and learned how to skate ski. He reveled in skiing on Bald Mountain with his children Sheldon and Sheriden. He took vacations with his children to canoe the Boundary Waters, and he hiked with them up Glassford, Leatherman and Hyndman peaks.

He embarked on his first Rebecca’s Private Idaho gravel ride last year, bouncing along its washboard descents.

“Can you believe they let people live here?” he asked many times in awe.

In addition to enjoying the beauty of the surrounding mountains, Frank worked on beautifying his own little corner of the world. He planted a jungle of tomato plants that sported red fruit when few other tomato patches did. He built rock pathways leading from his house to Indian Creek and he tilled the soil of his wife’s acclaimed peony gardens.

He happily built pedestals for each of the 50 birdhouses his wife amassed, offering sparrows their choice of castles, Wild West saloons and Noah’s Arks in which to live.

“He was so happy when I asked him to do a project because he loved everything and he loved making me happy,” Marie recounted.

When not outdoors Frank supported numerous nonprofits, from supporting scholarships for teaching underprivileged kids to ski to organizing a pandemic yard sale for The Senior Connection to baking his famous three-tiered chocolate cake, cheesecake and sky-high coconut cake for I Have a Dream Foundation and Secret Santa fundraisers.

He organized a Rally in the Valley bike ride from SNRA to Galena Lodge to raise money to fight cancer in honor of a young woman who lost a 12-year-battle with brain cancer at 28.

And, when he learned that some school children were in danger of going hungry because federal funds for school lunches were being cut, he assessed the situation, opened up his billfold and suggested ways the Blaine County Education Foundation could raise additional funds to help children.

“He was very kind, a wonderful father, a wonderful partner,” said Marie.

Frank insisted on celebrating his birthday this past Halloween with a costume party at Sun Valley Resort’s bowling alley. He contributed money for every bowling pin his friends knocked down, putting inflatable balloons in the gutters so no one would throw a gutter ball. The evening raised thousands of dollars for charity, and brought tears to Frank’s eyes as his children recited a poem they’d written, titled “Our Dad, The Monster,” inspired by his Halloween birthday.

“Who is rich?” asked the rabbi at his funeral. “Pirkei Avot said, ‘The one who is happy with what he has.’ And in this regard, Benjamin was extraordinarily wealthy.”

Those who would like to honor Ben Frank’s memory may make a donation to:

Rotarun Ski Area at https://rotarun.org/donate/ or Box 2083, Hailey, ID 83333, or

The Senior Connection https://seniorconnectionidaho.org/donate/ or Box 28, Hailey, ID 83333.