Editorial
Those of us at the newspaper share the shock, grief and disbelief of our friends and neighbors throughout this community as we cope with the unexpected death of Lexington Mayor Frank Friedman.
The personable and affable Frank, it seemed, became friends with nearly everyone he encountered. He showed a genuine sense of interest in the personal lives of those he conversed with, and he conversed with scores of people on a daily basis. It was a common sight to see him deeply in conversation with someone outside CornerStone Bank, where he was employed as a vice president and financial adviser, or elsewhere around town.
One might be tempted to say he was born to be a politician. He was definitely a “people person,” and it showed from his youth. He was student government association president at Lexington High School, from which he graduated in 1984. A 1988 graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, he served as student government secretary there.
After returning to his hometown in 1997, he was appointed to the Lexington School Board within two years. He served on the School Board from 1999 to 2006, on City Council from 2006 to 2010 and 2012 to 2016, was elected mayor in 2016 and reelected in 2020 and 2024.
His involvement in the community extended to serving on the boards of Carilion Rockbridge Community Foundation, Kendal at Lexington, Virginia March of Dimes, Rockbridge United Way, Augusta Community Health Foundation, Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission and Blue Ridge Resource Authority.
His positive demeanor in his interactions with others and in his public service was a defining characteristic of him. In this newspaper’s candidate profile of Frank in 2020, the reporter described him as being “unfailingly sunny” – a description he didn’t dispute. “When you get up in the morning, you can choose when to have a good day or a bad day, and if you choose to have a bad day, guess what, it’s going to be bad,” he told the reporter.
Most mornings Frank chose to have a good day. In making this choice, he uplifted everyone around him. A lasting legacy he’s leaving behind in his government service is how he encouraged his colleagues to work together for the benefit of the community. Whether it was Lexington City Council members working in unison toward a common purpose or the city and its regional partners advancing causes of mutual interest, Frank played an important role in these cooperative endeavors.
During his lengthy tenure in local government service, he played a leading role in numerous worthwhile projects such as the rebuilding of Waddell Elementary School, the refurbishment of Lylburn Downing Middle School, bringing high speed fiber to the region, the ongoing renovations to City Hall, making water and sewer infrastructure improvements and enabling significant capital improvements in downtown Lexington to be achieved.
While this is an impressive list of accomplishments to be associated with, his lasting legacy above all else, we believe, is the cheerful demeanor he exhibited in all he did and the joy he spread throughout the community.
