What can I say about Frankie Barber? Whenever I had a chance to speak to him, I always walked away with a bit more knowledge about Perth Amboy.

Frankie Barber

Frankie and my late father, Rocky Maxwell Sr., lived in the same apartment building on the corner of High Street. He would often tell me about the good times that he and my father had when they worked at the Raritan Copperworks.

He had a great respect for my dad. Frankie also told me about the time when he played on an interracial baseball team. There was one town where they played and they told Frankie to make sure they were out of there before sundown.

Frankie never minced words when it came to his feelings about politicians whether they be local or national. I remember he was not too fond of one local politician who he thought should also be in the slammer.

I would often find another local resident, Orlando a.k.a. Wildman sitting with Frankie on the bench pictured below or sometimes they would be sitting on the other side of the street depending on where the shade was.

Sometimes I would join them. One afternoon Frankie and Orlando were sitting on a bench on the Five Corners. They were talking to one of the Police Officers on the enclosed police scooters. They told the Officer that he was doing a good job catching motorists making illegal turns at that intersection. Shortly after that, Police Chief Benjamin Ruiz showed up. They told the Chief what a good job that officer was doing which Ruiz appreciated. “We’re trying our best.”

For some reason the conversation turned to the Police Officer, Alvin Williams from Woodbridge who was killed in the line of duty.

Frankie said, “Yeah, that was just a couple of years ago.”

Immediately, myself, Orlando and Ruiz said, “No, that was in the late ‘70’s.”

Ruiz then said he remembered exactly what year it was because he had just graduated from college.

A bench in front of Flowers 'n' Things.

Another time, Frankie was sitting with a woman from his building named Pat. They were reminiscing about different singers when they were growing up.

So I asked them, “Name some of the singers and one of their songs. I remember one of them was Patsy Cline. I Googled her name and the song on my android phone and it came up on YouTube. They had a good time listening, watching and reminiscing.

I was probably there about 20 minutes with them and Googled every request that they asked for. This is how I remember Frankie. Talking about the good times with my father at Raritan Copperworks, being frank about politics and his discussions with myself and Orlando. So, Frankie give my dad a great big bear hug from me. I know you gave him one already from yourself.

– Carolyn

A table in Lee’s Market where Frankie would often hold court.

I always remember Frankie sitting on the bench between Madison and Smith in the morning. If you wanted to know what was going on around town, you just had to ask Frankie. He loved Amboy and its history. R.I.P.

– Katherine