Frank Gira was born in 1936 at the Flin Flon General Hospital to Cecilia and Kazimierz Gira (he was their first anniversary present) and was brought home to the family home on 86 Hill Street.
There he would grow up with siblings Ceil, Richard, Ronald and Frank. His father worked in the open pit as a blacksmith. His mom, as was the case in most families then, was a stay-at-home mom.
During his high school years, Frank worked at the Rex Theatre. One summer, he worked for Reliance Service unloading beer from the boxcars and delivering it to the hotels.
Frank graduated from Hapnot Collegiate in 1954 and went on to the University of Manitoba, four years later becoming a mechanical engineer. During his summers he worked at HBM&S, now Hudbay, on the bull gang in the smelter along with other university students, then as smelter puncher.
After graduating from the U of M, Frank came back to Flin Flon with the idea of making some money so he could go on to post-graduate education.
As fate would have it, however, the love bug struck Frank when he met Blanche Walleyn, a nurse who just happened to be in his sister’s nursing class. Blanche worked at Flin Flon General Hospital, on the second floor (medicine, maternity ward and the nursery), then at the Flin Flon Clinic as Dr. Smithen’s nurse.
The couple got married on July 1, 1961. Frank laughs, “And the country celebrates our anniversary every year with fireworks. We honeymooned in Reno, Nevada, almost tempting fate as that is where people go to get divorced!”
The couple first lived in an apartment at 60 Hill Street, after spending the summer at Harvey Lamont’s cottage at Bakers Narrows. In 1966 they bought a house at 2 Hapnot Street.
In 1974 they moved to 384 Parkway Boulevard and lived there with their five teenagers until September 1986. The kids are now grown and raising families of their own.
Gary, born in 1962, took an HBM&S machinist apprenticeship. He has three children and lives in Winnipeg.
Fran, born in 1964, graduated from U of M in pharmacy. She has two children. She worked in the pharmacy at the Flin Flon General Hospital and lives in Flin Flon.
Cory, born in 1965, graduated from the U of M with an arts degree plus social work and relative law. He worked for Child and Family Services in Winnipeg and has two children.
Jill, born in 1966, took two years of business administration at the U of M. She is employed at the Hudbay health station, lived at Schist Lake and has three children.
Dell, born in 1968, took courses in bookkeeping and accounting and has two children. She currently lives and works in Timmins, Ontario.
Career
Frank started at HBM&S on May 4, 1958, working in the main office with the design-engineering group. Shortly afterwards he went to the machine shop working as a mechanical draftsman, foreman on the shop floor then general foreman, progressing through to a three-day “short-lived” superintendent position.
Frank joined the militia in 1960, enrolled in the lieutenant qualifying course. He was captain second in command of the Flin Flon-based 21 Field Engineer Squadron, then commanding officer from 1973 to 1977. That was followed by his appointment as a honourary colonel for the squadron, which closed in 1995.
The squadron did much for youth in the community, giving them employment and mind-broadening training.
One of the exercises that members participated in annually was called “survival under extreme conditions,” which meant they would spend a weekend living in tents in the middle of winter, learning survival skills and performing tactical exercises.
Frank was also on the Flin Flon Community Club Board, serving from 1964 to 1968, including a couple of years as president. He then served on the Figure Skating Committee from 1973 to 1981, “as all my children skated!” He was also president of the Flin Flon Credit Union.
Due to cutbacks, Frank was “forcibly retired” from HBM&S in 1986 along with about 75 other employees in Toronto and Flin Flon. He and his wife moved to Timmins, Ontario, as he had found work with Timmins Mining Corps. of Canada, a consulting firm.
“I had an opportunity to go to Ghana, Africa, working for the World Bank doing a feasibility study upgrading mine hoists in three locations: Dunkwa, Tarkwa and Accraw,” says Frank, who also worked in England and Scotland.
Frank finished with Timmins in 1991 and then went to work in Guyana, South America, with Reynolds International at a bauxite mine for three years. This time Blanche, who had earlier stayed in Timmins, went along, too.
The couple returned to Flin Flon in 1994 to turn their cabin at Big Island into their permanent home. But Frank ended up in California working for Steve Harapiak, a former HBM&S general manager.
Harapiak was a consultant working for the Russians, and Frank became his onsite project manager in California, dismantling mill equipment and sending the parts to Russia for reassembly.
In 1996 Frank retired for good and he and Blanche now happily live at Big Island at their mostly remodeled home.
They have 12 grandchildren with seven in Flin Flon, two in Timmins and three in Winnipeg. They both enjoy good health and travelling.
