Frank B. Boeger died helping to save Aline P. Lootens from drowning, Ludington, Michigan, August 15, 1998. Aline, 9, was swimming in Lake Michigan when she encountered difficulty in the rough water. From atop a submerged sand bar nearby, Boeger, 67, retired school administrator, and two others immediately responded to her. After their unsuccessful attempts to rescue Aline, the others returned to shore, with difficulty. Other men responded; one swam out to Aline and Boeger, finding Boeger keeping Aline afloat. That man took Aline toward shore, others then assisting in her rescue. Next seen floating face down in the water, Boeger was removed from the lake. He could not be revived, as he had drowned.
72987 – 8300
72987-8300Obituary
Frank B. Boeger, an educator, family man, and avid outdoorsman, drowned Aug. 15, 1998, after helping to save the life of a 9-year-old girl in Lake Michigan near Ludington, Mich. He was 67.
Boeger, of Sterling Heights, Mich., was vacationing with his family when he noticed the child struggling in the lake and set out with his daughter, Deborah Jacques, and her husband to help. Jacques was nearly pulled under the waves and swam back to shore. Boeger and his son-in-law struggled to help the girl, but got seperated. Boeger was pulled ashore a sort while later and could not be revived.
“He was a strong swimmer, but I think he got in an undertow and got dragged out,” said Jean Boeger, his wife of 45 years. “But he ended his life doing the things he loved — being with his family, camping, and canoeing.”
Boeger, who graduated from Hazel Park High School in 1949, was a retired vocational director and principal in the L’Anse Creuse schools. He retired in 1987. He served in the Navy during the Korean War, playing alto sax, clarinet, and flute in the admiral’s band.
A graduate of Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, he was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Utica Post, the American Legion, and the Base Community Council at Selfridge Air National Guard.
Boeger was buried in White Chapel Cemetery, Troy, Mich.
(Edited from an obituary in The Detroit News.)