Mr. Frank H. Ikerd, Jr

Mr. Frank H. Ikerd, Jr, age 85 of Somerset, KY departed this life on Saturday, June 16, 2012 in Somerset, Kentucky. He was born in Newton, N.C. on April 14, 1927, the son of Frank H. Ikerd, Sr., and Nell Barringer Ikerd and was confirmed at St. James Lutheran Church in Newton in 1940. He was the founder and retired President of Ikerd & Bandy Coal Company. Mr. Ikerd was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife of 65 years, Willene Frana (“Winnie”) Hager Ikerd, two sons, Frank H. Ikerd III (Charlotte) and Richard A. Ikerd (Melissa), a daughter, Jasie Ikerd Mulloy (Louis), two brothers, Bobby Clarence Ikerd (Rita), Jerry Shelton Ikerd (Brenda), nephews Timothy Carlton Ikerd (Cindy), Chip Ikerd (Jamie), nieces Amy Ikerd Girdler, Lisa Halloran (Rick), seven grandchildren, Leslie, Emily, Frank IV, Sarah, Lindsey, Sydney and Mackenzie, and six great-grandchildren, Coulter, Ashton, Ellie, Chas, Robey and Emery Kate. Mr. Ikerd served ashore and aboard destroyers in the United States Navy during World War II from 1944 to 1946. After returning to the states, he and Willene married, and he worked for Black Raven Coal Company (owned and operated by his father Frank Sr. and uncles Gus and Dennis Ikerd) at their coal mining operation at Straight Creek in Bell County (Pineville), Kentucky. Here he learned to operate equipment common to surface mining and spent the majority of his time as a shovel operator, moving overburden from the coal or loading coal onto coal haul trucks. He learned the fundamentals of running a successful coal producing company and when the opportunity presented itself, he ventured out to make a go of it on his own. Along with a long-standing friend, Edsel Bandy, Mr. Ikerd founded Ikerd & Bandy Coal Company in July of 1955. Work on their first lease with Theo Garrison in Clay County, Kentucky began with just two pieces of equipment. As sales grew, his brothers Bobby and Jerry became active in the company. In the 1960’s, through a combination of land purchases and attractive leases, they began mining coal reserves at Ano in Eastern Pulaski County. The company excelled in meeting contractual obligations and treating employees fairly. Their reputation for integrity in the coal industry attracted several large publicly-held corporations for potential acquisition and by 1975, with operations in four different counties in south and central Kentucky, and significant proven reserves of marketable coal, they aligned with Kaneb Services, Inc., of Houston Texas. Mr. Ikerd remained President of the wholly-owned subsidiary until his retirement and took particular interest in coal reserve prospecting, acquisition and development, and employee relations activities such as establishing work standards and proper wage schedules for the categories of work involved. He was charged with ensuring compliance with numerous governmental regulations, meeting production and quality standards as required at each operation, and reviewed the preparation of budgets for production, sales, capital expansion and coal purchasing. The family of Mr. Frank H. Ikerd, Jr., will receive friends after 5 p.m. Wednesday June 20, 2012 at the First United Methodist Church of Somerset. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church. Entombment will follow in the Lakeside Memorial Gardens. A fellowship dinner will be held at 5 p.m. at The Coal Reserve, 517 E. Racetrack Road, Somerset. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy be made to Hospice of Lake Cumberland, 100 Parkway Drive, Somerset, KY 42503 and the Georgetown College Ikerd Scholarship Fund, c/o Mike Calhoun, Georgetown College, 400 East College Street, Georgetown, KY 40324.