FRANK, Doris A. (Jess) 1927-2003

FRANK, JESS

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner (email)
Date: 12/28/2004 at 10:14:20

Doris Frank, long-time Kansas City area resident and advocate for the disabled, died Sunday, August 24, 2003, after a short illness at the age of 76. She grew up in Rock Rapids and married Louis Frank in 1951. He died in 1985 in Kansas City.

The Franks lived in Anchorage, Alaska; Chico, California; and Rock Rapids, Iowa, before moving to Kansas City in 1967. She managed the municipal swimming pool there. Doris was remembered in Rock Rapids for her efforts in finally having a swimming pool built there. She spearheaded a campaign for an indoor pool but eventually settled for the present site for an outdoor pool.

In 1968, Doris Frank founded a swimming pool for the disabled at the YMCA. She later received the title of director of hydrotherapy, but all of her work was done on a volunteer basis. During her thirty years with the YMCA, Doris Frank raised money to purchase a heated jacuzzi to benefit arthritis patients and arranged family memberships for the local Special Olympics swim team and their families during training for the Olympics.

Doris also dressed as the Easter bunny and visited area hospitals, nursing homes, and police and fire stations, to distribute her never—ending basket of candy. The candy was donated by local grocers and distributors. As Easter approached, the Franks would have an entire room in their house filled with the goodies.

In 1977, angered when a local mall wouldn’t locate Santa Claus in an area accessible to disabled children, Doris launched the Handicapped Children’s Christmas Party in the driveway of her home. In a short time, the party outgrew her driveway and was moved to the Waukomis Community Building. Each year, as many as 400 disabled children came to see Santa. The event is still ongoing.

In 1980, Doris Frank expanded her volunteer efforts to include troubled juveniles. She supervised work restitution and community service programs with first—time offenders who were assigned to assist with her hydrotherapy class. Until 1997, she worked with the Platte County Juvenile Office as a support officer. She would respond to calls from local law enforcement agencies when they had a child who needed someone to be with them until they could be placed with children’s services or until a guardian for the child could be found.

Doris also collected handmade children’s quilts, donated by a local quilting group, to be used as trauma blankets for children in the care of juvenile officers or ones who were victims of fire, crime, or abuse.

Doris Jess Frank’s volunteer efforts were honored locally, statewide, and nationally. In 1995, she received the Spirit of Kansas City Award. In 1992, she was chosen as a point of light by President George Bush. In 1977, she was invited by President Jimmy Carter to attend a meeting of the President’s committee on the employment of the handicapped. In 1998, the Missouri House of Representatives honored Doris with a resolution recognizing her as an outstanding Missourian. Doris received the Northland Chamber of Commerce Public Safety Award in 1988.

Those among us who knew and remember Doris Jess Frank are not surprised at all of the honors she earned throughout her adult life. We remember her for her outgoing personality, her unbelievable energy, and her interest in the underdog, as well as, involvement in community and school affairs.

Doris is survived by her sons: Donald Frank of Saporo, Japan, and Mark Frank of Lake Waukomis, and a brother, Paul Jess of Lawrence, Kansas. Upon her death, Doris’s family exemplified her life, as they requested in lieu of flowers, that her friends do volunteer work in their community.

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SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX:

Name: Doris A. Frank
birth date: 5 March 1927
social security number: 481-28-9010
place of issuance: Iowa
last residence: Platte, Missouri
zip code of last residence: 64151
death date: 24 August 2003