Francis Anthony Wolak

West Point, 1949

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by BG R.M. Ong (Ret) on March 2, 2020:

It is with much regret and a deep sense of loss that I learn about the passing of my good friend, LTC Frank Wolak. Major Wolak was a "Juice P" -- a Cadet slang term for "Electrical Engineering Professor" -- who taught my classmates and me when we were juniors at West Point in 1961. Juice was well-known as the most DIFFICULT subject that a Cadet would encounter, during his entire 4-year course at the Academy. And reputedly, the meanest and most demanding of all Instructors were those assigned to teach Juice. But NOT Major Wolak. This guy knew his stuff; he knew how to impart his knowledge; he knew how to make us understand the principles of Electricity; and -- best of all -- he taught us how to SOLVE Juice problems. And when we did so, he gave us good grades! Pure joy was the feeling of each Cadet who landed in his Section. We knew that we would learn something from him; we would understand Resistors, Capacitors, Alternating Currents, Superheterodynes and other "Mysteries of the Electron," because Major Wolak was there to explain everything to us. And he did! I have no doubt that many of my classmates who passed Juice -- by the skin of their teeth -- did so, only because there was a certain secret Santa Claus in the Juice Department. After my retirement, I joined the Forum of the W-P.ORG -- a group of grads -- and I was delighted to find that LTC Wolak was one of the Forumites. We communicated with each other and became fast friends. He had the same brilliant mind, friendly counsel and warm personality that I remember. Perhaps my only regret -- about my relationship with LTC Frank Wolak -- is that during my entire 33 years as a soldier in the Philippine Army, I never got to apply my knowledge of Kirchhoff's Current Law! Frank Wolak is no longer with our Forum. So, I like to imagine him in Heaven, teaching the angels there, the same POEM -- that he taught us at our first meeting -- which unlocked all the secrets of Electricity: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, E is equal to I R" And now, my final salute to a great mentor. Well done, sir! Be thou at peace! Brigadier General Ramon M. Ong (Retired) Armed Forces of the Philippines USMA 1963

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