Roger Frank

Roger S. Frank (New Berlin, WI)

Roger died peacefully at his home, on Sunday morning July 19, 2020, with his wife and children by his side, at the age of 74.

He was born on May 17, 1946, in Whitefish Bay, to Norma (Stevenson) and Arno Frank, ready for adventure. He loved many things. He loved animals, especially his Ragdoll cats, his various hobbies like architecture, cars, music, cooking, and baking. Roger also studied and took voice lessons for opera – which is not known by many that knew him.

Roger’s career officially was as a design engineer for Safway Steel. He worked there from his early 20’s until his retirement.  He loved the work he did and took great pride in doing his job well. His designs and input over the years gained him great respect throughout the company.

Roger’s knowledge and passion did not stop at engineering. He loved to design homes, especially many versions of his own. He was commissioned on several occasions for help on remodeling and additions. He was a wonderful craftsman with his specialty being working with wood like his father and his grandfather before him. He always loved nature and the beauty of God’s creations. In his later years, he began some new passions working on inventions and going back to school to begin a new career in retirement of painting. He was incredibly good at both!  Roger loved to travel and had the good fortune of seeing much of the United States along with areas of Canada and Mexico but his favorite places to be were the Caribbean, Idaho, and Arizona.

Roger will definitely be remembered for many things, but he will mostly be remembered for his love of his family and friends and his willingness to share what life had taught him so that those he cared about could live better and fuller lives.

Roger married his wife Debbie on June 12, 1982. Over the next 38 years, they dreamed and built a wonderful life.

Roger was preceded in death by his parents Arno and Norma (Stevenson) Frank, his beloved brother Arnie Frank. He is survived by his loving wife Debbie (Szalewski) Frank, loving father of Anita (Mark) Mueller, Rodger (Charlene) Frank, and 8 grandchildren. Further survived by his brother Jeffrey Frank, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, and other family and friends.

Services for Roger will be held on Friday, July 31, 2020, at Krause Funeral Home at 21600 West Capitol Drive, Brookfield, Wisconsin 53072. Visitation will be from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Service will be at 4:00 PM in the chapel officiated by Pastor Todd Pope.

If you wish, please consider a donation to the Lymphoma Research Foundation at Lymphoma.org (specifically for Mantle Cell) or the Humane Society.

A special thank you to all the staff at Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital – Elmbrook for taking wonderful care of Roger throughout each of his stays over the last several months, to the kindness of everyone at Vitas Hospice and Krause Funeral Home.

During this unusual time, the family is encouraging everyone who attends to do whatever they feel most comfortable doing. This may include wearing masks, social distancing yourselves, incorporating “air-hugs” or actual hugs. Currently the service location is not requiring guests to wear masks at the time. The location is extremely roomy and will allow for more than adequate social distancing.