THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508090189
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRANKLIN LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Countless friends and numerous relatives of Fred Rabil gathered Sunday at his flower-bedecked Main Street restaurant.
The tributes lined the bar of Fred's Restaurant, a popular gathering spot. Others filled the adjoining dining room that once was a pool hall. Still more adorned the upstairs banquet room.
``And this isn't even a funeral,'' quipped Madeline K. Camp, as she helped her mother, Marguerite R. Kannan, pour punch.
Kannan, a retired Franklin nurse and one of Rabil's sisters, helped organize the festivities to celebrate Rabil's 50 years in business on Main Street.
``This is an institution,'' said Franklin native Max Porter, who now lives in Boykins.
Some of the celebrants were regulars, many retirees who gather each weekday morning for the ``Old Men's Coffee Club.''
Joe and Barbara Hardy, who travel with Fred and his wife, Joyce, came from Prattville, Ala.
Hardy started working for the Post Office in Franklin in 1946, a year after Rabil came to town. ``I was his mailman,'' he said.
In those days, The Stonewall Hotel, Raiford Memorial Hospital, Rose's 5 and 10 and two hardware stores - J.T. Pace and Steinhardt's - lined Main Street.
``Main Street was the hub of Franklin then,'' Hardy said.
Frank Rabil, oldest of Fred's three sons, said the family lived upstairs until he was 13. ``We were street urchins,'' he said. ``We knew everyone downtown.''
Many who have worked for Rabil over the years were present.
``After 12 years down here, we're family,'' said waitress Patsy Gray.
In 1984, a kitchen fire heavily damaged the restaurant and closed it for months for repairs.
``It never entered my mind to get another job,'' she said.
Area newcomers - Bill and Annamarie Klingenberg and Matt and Deborah Thuman - were welcomed along with the old-timers.
They heard about the celebration that morning at St. Jude's Catholic Church, where visiting Rabil kinfolk filled one side of the sanctuary.
``Fred invited the whole church, even the visitors,'' Bill Klingenberg said.
Retiree James H. Turner Jr. eats lunch at Fred's every day.
``The atmosphere is good, the food is good and the people are friendly, especially Fred and his wife,'' Turner said. ``He ain't never seen no stranger.''
``This is Franklin, to me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BETH BERGMAN
Fred Rabil gets a hug from a friend during a party honoring him.
by CNB