by Mandy Moran Froemming
Union Editor

Frank Gould passed away last week after a nine year battle with lung cancer.

Gould, 60, was the owner of the Gould’s Diamonds and Jewelry, which he operated first in Two Harbors starting in 1978 and later moved to Anoka in the late 1980s.

Gould died in the early morning of Thursday, Nov. 5 at his Champlin home, which he shared with wife Cynthia.

Along with being a successful businessman, Gould was also known as a strong and vocal supporter of the community.

Employees including Deena Derr, who worked for Gould for more than a decade, regularly enjoyed his personality and positive outlook on life.

“Frank had the incredible ability to make every customer and every employee feel so special,” said Derr. “His fantastic sense of humor also made working for him and with him unpredictable and fun.”

Gould was a fourth generation jeweler, carrying in the footsteps of the family business started in Glencoe in 1878 – the oldest family jewelry business in the state of Minnesota.

Gould was born in Glencoe on May 16, 1949 to William and Marjorie Gould.

Along with wife Cynthia, whom he married this summer after a 15-year relationship, Frank Gould is also survived by son Christian and his wife Alexis and their daughters Quinn and Page; son Dustin and his wife Rachel and their son Sean; stepson Morgan Herrboldt and his wife Stephanie and their son Jesse; stepdaughter Megan Herrboldt and her sons Mason and Ian and daughter Brooklyn; and his brothers, Tom and Bill Gould.

Dustin Gould, who joined the family business in 2002 – a move that took much convincing since his dad originally turned him down – said the store had always been an important part of who Gould was.

“His work and his customers were his honest and true passions in life,” said Dustin. “But when you actually could get him out of the store he was a pretty fun guy.”

He said his dad loved music and travelled when he could.

Gould was especially proud of the new Gould’s Diamonds and Jewelry building, which the business moved into in the spring of 2008 at the corner of Seventh and Main Street.

He started making plans for the relocation in 2003, after he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Instead of focusing on an unlikely retirement, he threw himself into designing a new store, inspired by an old railway station relocated to Duluth’s Canal Park, which Cynthia had spotted while the couple had spent a weekend up north.

“I guarantee a lot of the incentive for him was to live long enough to realize that journey and see the store built,” said Dustin. “And he wanted to make sure that he taught me what I needed to know to be successful.”

Gould taught by example – treating everyone like they were the most important customers to walk through the door.

“A guy might just be coming in today for a watch battery, but tomorrow he could be shopping for an engagement ring,” said Dustin. “Every single customer was important to him.”

Moving Gould’s Diamonds and Jewelry from the corner of Second and Main, five blocks up the street to an impressive, historically inspired 6,000 square foot showroom, marked a major accomplishment for Gould.

“This just feels really, really good,” said Gould when he proudly welcomed customers into the store in March of 2008.

At the time of the opening, he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments for the cancer.

“What I really wanted to do was give the people of Anoka and the area the ability to walk through the door and say gosh am I glad this place is here,” said Gould in 2008 of the store he built as a legacy to the Gould family jewelry business.

After leaving the downtown core, Gould had said he always hoped the store would spur new development on the east end of Main Street.

This summer a new CVS pharmacy opened up across the street.

At the time, he had hoped the store would be a place where fund-raisers could be held and the community could congregate.

According to Dustin, Gould did his best to help out all of the many organizations and groups that came calling for support over the years, whether it was the chamber of commerce or students from the Anoka High School.

Since Gould’s diagnosis with lung cancer nine years ago, he was vocal about the dangers of smoking, which he believed caused the lung cancer.

Derr said when Gould would see someone smoking, he would lift his shirt and show them his scars from cancer treatment. For a long time a letter also sat on the front counter explaining his diagnosis and the dangers of smoking.

Gould long outlived his doctor’s expectations – only 5 to 10 percent of patients with his diagnosis survive for five years.

“My dad never backed down from cancer,” Dustin said. “That was his way – to always keep moving though it.”

So much so that the day before he passed away in his sleep, he had made a trip to the Mayo Clinic to have some skin cancer on his face taken care of.

“He was always willing to talk about his cancer – hoping that something positive could come out of it,” said Dustin.

Early on, Gould studied interior design at the University of Minnesota. While he did do some window designs at the downtown Daytons store, he realized this was not his calling in life and did not finish his degree.

But Dustin said you can see the influence of Gould’s design training in the pieces of jewelry he created.

“Almost once a week a customer will come into the store with a piece that Frank designed, looking to add something to it or get it checked over,” he said.

When Gould had first started planning his move to the Twin Cities, he had been considering opening a store in the south metro.

But a call from Art Downing, owner of long-time Anoka business Art Downing Jewelers, changed that fate. Gould fell for Anoka, it’s history and charm, and bought the business.

“First and foremost he cared,” said Pete Turok, president of the Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Anoka Business and Landowners Association (ABLA).

“He cared to the point that he put himself out there and talked to people about what was best for Anoka. He pushed items that he felt would help this town.”

In past years that included the new street banners that were a result of a recent marketing and branding study, right down to knocking on doors to ask other merchants to display Halloween murals painted by local students, said Turok.

Gould was a chamber member, former board member of the Anoka Business and Landowners Association and had been involved with Rediscover Anoka, a merchant led group whose mission is to promote business and tourism in the community.

“I’ve known Frank since he came to town – he was always positive and upbeat,” said Turok.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Thurston-Lindberg Funeral Home on West Main Street in Anoka from 5 to 8 p.m. There will also be visitation for one hour prior to Wednesday’s memorial service, which will be held at 2 p.m. at Anoka United Methodist Church, 850 South St. in Anoka.

Mandy Moran Froemming is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it