Robert A. Frank, 91, died on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, at AdviniaCare Baypointe in Brockton, Massachusetts, following a fall in which he broke his hip.
Bob Frank was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on May 27, 1931, to Martha Schneider Frank and Gustave Albert Frank. He and his younger brother, Richard J. Frank, grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey. They moved frequently during the Depression, at one point counting among their neighbors “little Billy Evans,” who was destined to become a legendary jazz pianist.
Bob graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology). He married M. Marjorie Hetrick of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 16, 1956, and they enjoyed sixty-six years of married life. They first moved to Utica, NY, where Bob worked for General Electric. He earned his master’s degree when their first son, Alan M. Frank, was a baby. Following employment opportunities, he moved around in New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. He lived at 17 Yale Road in Nashua, New Hampshire, when his second son, Byron R. Frank, was born. He built a house at 365 Silver Lake Road in Hollis just before his daughter, Sylvia D. Frank, was born. Bob and Margie lived in Hollis for forty-eight years before moving in 2016 to Ledgewood Bay in Milford and in 2021 to Village at Willow Crossings in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
While some of the circuitry Bob designed flew on an Apollo mission, his career was in the electronics defense industry. He worked for Sanders Associates and retired from Raytheon Technologies, where he helped design AMRAAM rockets. After retiring Bob resumed one of his boyhood jobs—he used to ride his bicycle to deliver books from a bookstore in Plainfield—by selling used books online.
Bob enjoyed swimming, water skiing, bowling, and hiking. He sometimes read maps for fun, and he loved to travel. He was a longtime member of Toastmasters International. Bob enjoyed both secular and sacred music. Although he grew up in northern New Jersey, he became a Boston sports fan. At home he liked to trim trees, ride his John Deere tractor, and give rides to his grandchildren. Bob had a playful sense of humor. He loved to tell stories about his days growing up, especially about his time at his grandparents’ farm in Connecticut, which remained among his very last memories.
A devout Christian, Bob attended many churches, including Trinity Baptist Church and Grace Lutheran Church, both in Nashua, Faith Baptist Church in Hollis, and the First Baptist Church in Milford. From boyhood he loved spending time at summer Bible camps. Even in his 70s he attended Camp Winni on the shores of New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee.
Bob was preceded in death by his son Alan. He is the cherished husband of Margie Frank and the beloved father and father-in-law of Byron Frank and his wife, Lise, and Sylvia Frank Rodrigue and her husband, John. He was a devoted grandfather to Abigail and Emily Frank. He is the dear brother of Richard Frank and his wife, Jane, and the uncle to many nephews and nieces.
There will be no visiting hours. A celebration of Bob Frank’s life will be held on Sunday, March 12, at 2:30 PM at the Milford United Methodist Church in Milford, NH. Private interment will be at the North Cemetery in Hollis, NH, in the spring. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Word of Life, P.O. Box 600, Schroon Lake, NY 12870 (write Poland 05102C in the subject line).