The
Real Ragin’ Cajun
A
Tribute to Frankie Messina
08/08/25
My name is Kirwin Drouet and I was Frankie’s
brother-in-law from 1969 to 1986 when I was married to his sister, Camille.
Actually, that’s not really true because I considered him my brother-in-law
until he passed away this week. I have many memories of Frankie over the years
and I’ll share a few with you.
First a question for you—what do you call the son of a
100% Sicilian father and a Dutch/English mother who grew up in Jennings and
Lake Arthur? A Ragin’ Cajun, that’s what! Frank got the best of both of those
worlds and his life reflected it! While Dot was not a true Cajun, her South
Louisiana upbringing made her an honorary one and Jake, Frankie’s dad, added
the Sicilian Fire and “Rage” that made him the Ragin’ Cajun that we all knew
and loved.
Frankie was the oldest Messina kid in the family and
his sister Camille and baby brother Jakie both adored him. He was big and
powerful and out of control sometimes in his younger years (there’s that Ragin’
thing again) but his big Sicilian heart and family kept him grounded and loved
by most who knew him.
Some of you here today may know that Frankie had some
deviousness in him! My son, Damon,
reminded me of “the football story” about Frank on the way from Houston so I
thought I’d share it with you to prove my point. Frank’s father, Jake, was a SWC football
official and he officiated many Rice games in Houston. One such game was the Rice-University of
Texas game at Rice stadium and many of our family members attended, including
Frankie. I had gotten our tickets behind
the UT bench so we had a great view of the field. There must have been 60,000 in attendance
that day, so the bathroom and concession lines were long. Frankie disappeared early in the game, so we
thought that’s where he went. When he
didn’t show up for about a quarter of the game, we began to worry about his whereabouts. We thought about checking out the hundreds of
folks on the concourse of the stadium but then I spotted him! There Frankie was, on the field, mingling
with the UT players and staff and standing about five feet behind Darrel Royal,
the UT head coach! Now getting past
security and on the field was not an impossible task for Frank, being able to
stay on the field among the visiting team was another matter. But it was no problem for the devious
Frankie. All he did was find a stack of
towels on the bench, throw one over his shoulder to “ hide” his credentials,
and voila, he was a member of the football staff standing behind Coach
Royal. He stayed there most of the game
and we all got a big hoot out of his shenanigans!
As most of you in this room, being around Frankie was
always an Adventure! One of my most vivid memories of him was one July 4th
weekend at the Messina house on Lake Arthur. The Lakeshore Club was having a
big July 4th dance and all the Messina clan went to the party! The place was
packed with a live band and many drunk or soon to be drunk Cajuns! The
Adventure was about to begin… When the band
took a break so did most of the partygoers as well!
Frank turned to me and said he needed to go to the bathroom and wanted me to go
with him. This was Frankie’s way of asking me to go “take a ride” that some of
you know too well. I have no idea where his brother Jakie was, and we could
have used him! I followed Frank to the bathroom and as expected, the line was
out the door of facility. Finally, when we were both inside the door, there was
at least 10 urinals with guys doing their business. Frankie then proceeded to
announce to the group that he could “whip anyone in this bathroom”! Several of
the crowd told Frankie they would take him up on his challenge as soon as they
finished their business. Now I’m standing behind him thinking that I’m going to
have to fight my way out of this one for sure! The next thing I know, Frankie
and talking his way out of this mess and before we left, he had the entire
bathroom on his side ready to fight the rest of the club partygoers! What a
gift for gab!
And that gift for gab was used to help create a
business that he worked at for the rest of his career until retirement. When
Luke Mandola asked Frank to run the Ragin’ Cajun restaurant that he owned in
Houston, Frank jumped at the chance. While Luke remained behind the scenes,
Frankie became the face and personality of the Ragin’ Cajun. The restaurant was
the first restaurant in Houston to serve boiled crawfish and the menu was right
out of South Louisiana. When Frank grabbed that microphone to call out your
name when the order was ready, he made you feel like you were a long lost
relative of friend from high school. That love he had for people made his
customers want to come back for more and they did! Eventually, the Ragin’ Cajun
restaurant became so popular that they expanded to two more locations besides
the original in Houston.
During this time running this successful business,
Frankie always loved his family and was so proud of them. His son, Shawn Dale
is a successful builder and reminds me so much of his Dad. His daughter Angela
was born premature, and many thought she wouldn’t survive but she had her
Daddy’s heart and overcame the odds to become a beautiful woman and mother who
got to work with Frank at the restaurant. His daughters, Julia and Becca, were
born so close that they almost seemed like twins to me. The were his youngest
girls and probably have spent more time with their Dad during his long medical
issues. Frank loved when they came to see him.
Finally, Frank was married a few times and always
seemed to pick wives who took care of him! None took better care of him than
Vanessa. She has been his rock for the last several years and had to deal with
his stroke and other medical issues that plagued his later years. Thank you
Vanessa for taking care of my brother-in-law till the end.
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