Family first at Hunter Frank benefit

There are as many ways to grieve as there are people grieving.

Hunter Frank’s family is channeling its grief into a means to provide something they wish they’d had when he died in 2020.

He was just 20, stationed in El Salvador with the U.S. Navy.

“In a very difficult moment, when you get those uniformed officers at your door, or you get that phone call, you need somebody to turn to,” said Maggi Flores, “because what do you do? Where do you go?”

She watched her husband, Brandon Flores, try to process the emotions of losing his younger brother.

It had been a one-two punch of grief for the family: Frank died in 2020; within months, their grandfather, Bruce Frank, also died.

Bruce Frank was an avid motorcyclist. Flores was not, but he had a broken-down little dirt bike that sat in his garage.

“He pretty much just lost himself in the garage,” Maggi Flores said. He got the little dirt bike running, “and has been riding every day he can since,” though now he rides a Harley Davidson, like his grandfather.

On the first anniversary of his brother’s death, Flores made a Facebook post. He was going on a motorcycle ride in honor of his brother and welcomed all comers.

“He didn’t care how many – or if any – people showed up, he was riding anyway,” Maggi Flores said.

“That day, I thought it might be an annual thing,” she said. “Brandon puts it out there, and he just goes out on the bike, weather permitting.”

But when he returned from that first ride, “he said, ‘that felt amazing.’ I’m pretty sure that was a turning point for Brandon, when he truly figured out who he was,” Flores said. “That day, on that ride, I’d never seen him feel more at home. Deep down inside, he finally figured out who he was: a biker.

“It takes a great loss sometimes to figure out who you are.”

Brandon Flores also knew he wanted the event to grow.

Perhaps in a nod to his brother’s military service, he told his wife, “I want to do a motorcycle ride in his memory, with the brotherhood and the camaraderie.”

He knew one more thing: He wanted to raise money for veterans and for their families.

“If there’s one thing we needed as a family, it was help through that grieving process,” Maggi Flores said. “We wanted to support something that his family needed.”

Her husband wanted to give something to families like his, and after months of research, they settled on Wounded Warriors Family Support, which Brandon said “felt right.”

The non-profit provides resources for families of those who have been wounded, injured, or killed while serving with the military. Programs include caregiver respite; family retreats; grants and modified vehicles for combat-wounded veterans; and veteran training for job opportunities.

Founded in 2003, it has served millions of families through the programs.

The year Flores took that first ride, 2021, wasn’t a fundraiser.

The next year, he and Maggi did a spaghetti dinner, a silent auction, and a motorcycle ride. The Hunter Alexander Frank Memorial Event raised $10,000.

Frank’s mother, Annette Duncan, of Medford, has started a scholarship in his name.

His father, Chad Frank, of Waseca, runs Remember the Fallen Lawn Care; 5% of his proceeds go to Wounded Warriors.

Both, however, take a step back from the annual benefit.

“They said, ‘this is how you’re grieving, how you’re processing, and we’re not going to get in your way,’” Maggi Flores said.

“I just cannot get over the strength this family has had,” she said. “It’s almost like all of the strength that Hunter had, when he passed, he just gave it to them, and they were able to rise from the ashes.”

So last year, “we really wanted to incorporate family (activities) as much as we could, but we didn’t really have the means or the know-how,” she said.

Her family had moved from Waseca to Owatonna, “because we decided we wanted to be more in the community Hunter grew up in, and hopefully if we can grow, we can keep the money more local.”

They didn’t reach their goal of $15,000 in 2023, “so that’s our goal again this year,” Flores said Saturday. “Once we meet it,” it’ll be raised again.

Frank’s sister Indya, 17, participated in the ride for the first time last weekend, and the move to Owatonna felt like the right one.

“The locally-owned businesses and the local bands and local food trucks – I cannot appreciate this community enough,” Flores said.

And expanding to a more family-centered benefit was also fitting.

“If there’s one thing that came first to Hunter, it was his family,” Flores said. “Bringing a little something for everybody, with the kids’ stuff, with the music, with the auction, with the food trucks – there’s something for everybody, and I think he’d be proud of us.”

The fundraising amount for this year was not available by the time the Steele County Times went to press Monday.