Frank Neumann Memorial Fund

portrait of Frank Neumann — Frank Neumann

Donate to the Frank Neumann Memorial Fund

The late Frank Neumann created the website for the Salt Spring Island Archives and devoted countless hours to making it a vast repository for the island’s history. His dedication and years of work made it an impressive online presence for a community the size of Salt Spring.

In honour of his work and other contributions to the community the Frank Neumann Memorial Fund has been established to assist individuals seeking to use technology to make the island’s history more accessible to the general public. It is hoped that members of the community and the wider public will contribute to this fund to further the work that Frank began.

About Frank Neumann

Frank was born in Germany and arrived in Canada as a young man in his twenties. In his younger years in Canada he worked as a commercial fisherman, and in the 70s moved to Saturna where he established Saturna Island Boat Rentals. On the island he met his wife Gail when she arrived on Saturna in 1984.

Frank was very much involved in the activities of the island, volunteering for various community groups before he and Gail moved to Salt Spring in 2000. He was a larger-than-life character who enjoyed his life, his friends and his Coronas to the fullest. His business card reflected his sense of sun, noting his revolutions started, wars fought, uprisings quelled, Mexican divorces, tigers tamed, and bars emptied.

When Frank and Gail came to Salt Spring he continued his commitment to volunteering, devoting many hours to the Historical Society, the Salt Spring Archives, the Eggheads and the Farmers Institute. Frank was particularly interested in local history and technology. Using his formidable skills with a computer he built the original Salt Spring Archives website, scanning and converting thousands of local historical photos, recordings and videos, and making them accessible to the general public. He helped to facilitate visual presentations for guest speakers, and cheerfully gave hundreds of hours of his time to a variety of community groups. He also laid out and helped publish a book, The History of Agriculture on Salt Spring Island: Farms, Farmers and Farming, 1859-1885.

His efforts were all the more remarkable as he was living with muscular dystrophy, a progressive muscular disease which was diagnosed in Germany when he was in his 20s and led to him using a motorized wheelchair for the latter part of his life, and in which he could be seen whizzing around Ganges looking like a eccentric Swiss watchmaker on hot wheels. On holiday in Mexico the locals gave him the nickname ‘Speedy Gonzales’. He never complained, and the only indication Frank gave of his condition was the comment that gravity was growing stronger for him as time went on.

The Salt Spring Island Foundation has agreed to administer this fund and the Salt Spring Historical Society will disburse the money to successful applicants. Successful recipients will propose projects that record history and make it accessible through the use of technology. Applicants with ‘out-of-the-box’ proposals will be considered, as this would be very much in the spirit of Frank’s life and would meet with his approval.

Successful applicants will be asked to report to the Historical Society. Tax receipts will be issued by the Salt Spring Foundation. Click on the link above to make an online donation. The assistance of the Salt Spring Island Foundation in administering this fund is deeply appreciated.

In memory of Frank’s service to our community and his indomitable spirit in the face of his health challenges, we hope you will consider supporting The Frank Neumann Memorial Fund.