I continue to search for more old obits that Connie Petersen once was such a great help with, and this Manningite has an AMAZING story.
I searched for more information about him to see what else I could find and below is what I found so far.

Frank Gavin Of Manning Dies Monday
Well Known Farmer and Former Circus Man Is Pneumonia Victim A brief attack of bronchial pneumonia claimed the life of Frank Gavin, 57, at the St. Anthony Hospital in Carroll late Monday evening, March 3, 1941, bringing to an end a colorful career which had touched the lives of many thousands.

Frank Gavin was a circus man and spent most of his lifetime under the big top, touring the entire North American continent. During the past several years since he left active circus work and devoted his time to farming, he became equally intent on community work, and was known for his Farm Bureau, 4-H Club leadership, and A.A.A. efforts. He was also president of the Manning Farmer's Night School for the first three years of its existence beginning in 1938, and this year refused to become a candidate for a fourth year.

Funeral services will be held at the farm home south of Manning at 2 p.m. Thursday, the Masonic burial service being used. The Rev. Alexander Wimberly of the Manning Presbyterian Church, will officiate and burial will be in the Manning Cemetery. Special music for the services will be furnished by a quartet composed of Martha (Mrs. Nick C.) Schrum, Emma (Mrs. Albert) Dietz, Herman C. Pahde, and Clifford M. Johnson, accompanied by Bonita (Mrs. Henry) Hagedorn.

Mr. Gavin is survived only by his widow, the former Rose "Ella" Murray of Templeton.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August 4, 1884. Orphaned at a very early age he joined the circus when he was fourteen and until his comparatively recent retirement from the entertainment world devoted a lifetime to the circus. He was a concession manager. The family home has been in the Manning area for the past twenty-five years.

Mrs. Gavin has also been associated with the circus since before their marriage, for she joined a circus when it passed through this community many years ago to become its costume mistress. It was there that she met and later married Frank Gavin.

Gavin's career, brought him in touch with many celebrities all over the nation. He numbered among his friends Babe Ruth, Grantland Rice, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, and many others. He held the honorary titles of Traveling Ambassador of the Ponca City, Oklahoma, Chamber of Commerce, and Special Deputy Sheriff of the Madison Square Garden in New York.

At their present home south of Manning where the Gavins lived for the past nine years, Mr. and Mrs. Gavin traditionally played Santa Claus to all the children of the neighborhood each year. No entertainment in the community was complete without his help and advice.

Fraternally he was a member of Ivanhoe Lodge A.F. & A.M., Kansas City, Missouri, and of Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar, Royal Arch Chapter 22, Consistory and Shrine, all of Montgomery, Alabama.
Carroll Daily Herald, March 4, 1941

Frank A. Gavin
Funeral services for Frank A. Gavin, 56, prominent Audubon County farmer and former circus man who died Monday night at the St. Anthony Hospital, Carroll, will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at the farm home in Lincoln Township, near Gray. The Rev. Alexander Wimberley, Manning Presbyterian pastor, will officiate. Burial will be at the Manning Cemetery.

He was born August 4, 1884, in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, and started in circus work as a boy, with Howes Great London Show (from London, England), selling candy, fruit and soft drinks. He became "boss butcher" with the same show at 17. He served as concessions manager with many noted shows including Barnum & Bailey, John Robinson, Sells-Floto and others.

He married Miss Rose Ellen Murray, January 4, 1914, and she became chief costume designer for American Circus Corporation, for which her husband was concessions man and purchasing agent.

They retired from circus work and moved to the Audubon County farm eight years ago. Mr. Gavin operated 345 acres and owned 271 more in Cameron Township, Audubon County. He was prominent in agricultural circles, serving as director of the Audubon County Farm Bureau, Audubon County Beef Producers' Association, and Audubon County Soil Conservation and Improvement Association.
Daily Nonpareil, March 5, 1941

Pallbearers For Frank Gavin Rites Today Are Listed
Active pallbearers at the Frank Gavin funeral Thursday were Hans Beese, Emil Friedrichsen, Peter Moeller, Floyd Campbell, Henry Joens, and William Schultz.

Honorary pallbearers were Ted Simpson, Brayton; Ai Miller, Gray; Elwin M. McGinnis, Audubon; Ira R. Miller, Audubon; Edwin Anderson, Hamlin; Judson Zentmire, Audubon; Andrew Hansen, Audubon; Bert Miskimins, Gray; Julius Wehrmann, Edward E. Breckenridge, John A. Lewis, and William B. Campbell (School & FFA instructor), all of Manning.
Carroll Daily Herald, March 6, 1941

Templeton - Phil Neu attended the funeral of Frank Gavin in Manning Thursday afternoon.
Carroll Daily Herald, March 8, 1941

In reference to the Farmer's Night School that Frank was involved with...

Two hundred and fifty persons representing sixty families in this community attended the first annual picnic for members of the Manning Farmer's Night School at Spring Brook Park near Guthrie Center.
Daily Nonpareil, August 25, 1938

Manning Farmers' Night School Class Holds Annual Picnic
Members of the Manning Farmers' Night School and their families held their annual picnic at Lakewood Park Sunday. The heavy rain Saturday night cut the number attending from the usual two-hundred to about eighty-five. Twenty-one families were represented.

A picnic lunch was served at noon with the usual contests and activities taking place afterwards.

The ball game between the farmers living south of the highway with Louie Musfeldt as captain, bowed in defeat to those living north of the line, who had as their captain Mevis Wiese.

In the pillow slip relay, which followed, the south had its revenge, winning in both the men's and women's sections.

In the balloon race for young men and women, Norma Musfeldt won first place, Helen Hansen, second, and Marilyn Mohr, third.

The boys and girls from six to twelve had a paper bag relay in which the boys defeated the girls.

In the slipper kicking contest, Dorothy Welch proved her prowess by kicking highest and farthest, Ila Beese took second place, and Norma Musfeldt, third.

The contests closed with a tugo-war in which the men of the north put the greater weight on the issue. The afternoon closed with the serving of ice cream.
Carroll Daily Herald, August 19, 1941

If I had a lot more time, I could find pictures for a lot of the people mentioned in this Gavin feature just above, and also more information but for now I'll just add this information about Bill Campbell, who was one of the pallbearers for Frank Gavin.
My dad and mom, and many other Manning folks who knew Bill Campbell, always talked about their fond memories of Bill. My dad continued to be friends with Bill after high school.

1966 Amos Kusel & Bill Campbell

Bill Campbell when he taught at Manning.

July 8, 1937 Manning Monitor
W.B. CAMPBELL STARTS DUTIES AS VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE HEAD AT MHS
Manning has installed a new course in Smith-Hughes Agriculture under the direction of William B. Campbell, graduate of Iowa State College. Smith Hughes Agriculture is the name given to teaching vocational agriculture in high schools. The name Smith Hughes comes from two Georgia Senators who wrote the bill by which the government pays half of the salary of vocational Agricultural teachers. Smith and Hughes were interested in the industrial trade schools. Then their interest turned to the farm boys who were farming worn out land in the same way their fathers had. They thought what a fine thing if these boys could be taught how to farm by better methods, how to build up their soil, when to market their crops, what crops to raise, how to make the cheapest gain on livestock, etc, so they wrote the bill and in 1917 it was passed. While it is true that the farmers in the state of Iowa are a high class of farmers, still it is known that hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost by them from not treating their seed, using scrub dairy bulls, poor handling of milk, planting poor seed, feeding unbalanced rations, and many things of a like nature. These facts together with farming having become more and more of a business, justify vocational agriculture in Iowa high schools.

The course will be divided into two parts: the day school for high school boys and the evening school for adult farmers. The classes offered in the day school will be as follows: Freshmen, Livestock; Sophomores, Crops; and Juniors and Seniors, Farm Management. In addition the boys will carry a project through the summer as: a litter of pigs, a baby beef, a dairy heifer, a corn yield test plot, breeding hybrid corn, soybeans, and many others. The boys will have an opportunity to show these projects at state and local fairs. Also the boys will have a chance to go to Ames in the annual state agricultural contests. There will be a livestock and crops judging team, a farm management team, a demonstration team, and a farm forum speaker.

The Smith Hughes course has kept boys in school and on the farm. It has changed them from unpaid hired men to small independent operator's or dad's partner. A survey of Ames graduates recently showed that those who had taken vocational agriculture in high school made better grades in college and were placed in better jobs upon graduation from college. The course is not a book, learning course. While books and bulletins form the largest part of the classroom work, in addition to them the students learn by actual experience, on field trips during the school year, state contests, showing his projects, judging, and his own home project.

This course is not meant to take the place of actual farming experience but to give the boys in addition new knowledge and methods of farming.