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Frank Kroetsch

Updated Jun 26, 2025
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Frank Kroetsch
Photo of ship mates on the USS Killen during WWII. Frank is in the back row, second from the right. He was between 17-18 when the photo was taken.
Date & Place: in USA
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Nice - it just takes you back to those times.
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Frank Kroetch
Frank Kroetch was one of four siblings and was born to Dorothy Elaine (Ferguson) Kroetch and Hollis "Joe" Joseph Kroetch. As far as I know (grandson), Frank and his brother & two sisters had a bit of a rough childhood, having been separated into different groups living with various family members. He was one of the youngest to serve on the USS Killen for the U.S Navy in World War II. In fact, he lived his entire life thinking he was the youngest crew mate on the ship (he lied about his age to serve in WW2), but found out in the late 1990's at a Killen shipmates reunion in San Francisco that one lad had him beat by a handful of days. He married Marian "Joyce" Benning and had two children Kathy Pinna and Pamela Marks. He later married Carol (Antonsen) Kroetch and they raised John Kroetch. He was a very smart man (with an IQ that tested between 165 and 185) and good looking - charismatic! He was a life-long entrepreneur starting numerous businesses in various industries after attending the University of Washington and graduating from San Jose State University. He lived in both California (where his daughters were born) and Washington (where he was born and died). Frank was never baptized (as far as his child Kathy knows) and has no burial site. He was cremated and his ashes distributed between his wife and two daughters. He was quite a human being and we all miss him every day.
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Pam Marks
My life-time love of geneology and old photos led to the concept of Ancientfaces back in 1999....through the site I have made contact with previously unknown cousins in Australia, Tasmania, England, Scotland and various states in the US, broadening and enriching my family stories, photos and family relationships. The names I am researching resided in and/or settled the following areas: South Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland; Normandy; Germany, Belgium & the Netherlands; Virginia; West Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, Idaho and Washington state; first wave of settlers in the Hudson River & Mohawk River Vallies; founding fathers of New Haven, Middlesex and New London Counties, CT, along with Suffolk, Norfolk & Middlesex Counties in MA; first wave of settlers to Quebec and Ontario, Canada. Also, I am a member of the Mayflower Society after tracing my maternal side to John Billington, a Mayflower passenger ( with his family) who settled in Plymouth , and signed, the Mayflower compact.
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