Kenneth Dale Frank, 93, agronomy and horticulture associate professor emeritus, died May 31, 2025.
His 31-year career at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture and with Nebraska Extension was spent working in soil fertility and management.
Frank was born on the family farm near Stanton, Nebraska, on June 12, 1931. He graduated from Stanton High School in 1949. He attended railroad communications school and then worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for 1 1/2 years.
During the Korean War, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served on Midway Island and in Honolulu, Hawaii. After four years of active duty, Frank joined the U.S. Naval Reserves in 1955 and retired with the rank of commander after nearly 40 years of military service. In 2018, he also retired from the Civil Air Patrol after 29 years of service.
In 1956, Frank attended Iowa State University for one year before transferring to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to study agronomy.
While working on his bachelor's degree, Frank met his future wife, Mary Uehling, whom he married in August 1959. Their children, Stuart and Barbara were born in 1960 and 1962, respectively.
Frank worked for the late Leroy Peters, Nebraska entomology professor, and the late Robert A. Olson, soil scientist and professor of agronomy, while completing his bachelor’s degree. He graduated in 1960.
While pursuing his master’s degree in agronomy at Nebraska, he worked at various Outstate Testing Plots located throughout the state. This work was both a part of his educational experience and a way to earn money while attending school. He received his master’s degree specializing in soil fertility in 1963.
He moved his family to Ames, Iowa, to pursue a doctoral degree in agronomy and statistics, which he received in 1968. Frank then joined the University of Nebraska's agronomy department as assistant professor of soil fertility and management.
Frank’s academic and professional career included world travels with his family. From 1968 to 1970 the family lived in Bogota, Columbia, South America, where he worked on an United States Agency for International Development project helping to develop appropriate soil management practices. He also taught an advanced fertility class at the International Center for Academics Graduate School in Bogota.
In the summer of 1970, the family returned to the U.S. and moved to Clay Center, Nebraska, where Frank worked at the university’s South Central Research Station as an extension irrigated crop production specialist. His work included teaching local farmers and conducting research on fertilizer management on grain varieties.
Frank was promoted to associate professor and received tenure in 1974.
In 1984, Frank went to work on the university’s Morocco Project in Lincoln for 1 ½ years, during which he traveled to Morocco several times.
Frank and Mary then moved to Liberia, West Africa, to take part in another university associated USAID project. Frank worked as the soil fertility advisor at the Central Agriculture Research Institute in Liberia with local farmers on good soil management techniques for the next three years.
Returning to Lincoln in 1988, Frank became the director of Nebraska’s Agronomy Soil and Plant Analytical Laboratory until his retirement in 1999.
Frank was a member of the American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association, U.S. Naval Reserve Officers Association, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Nebraska Corn Growers Board of Directors, Gamma Sigma Delta, Alpha Zeta and Sigma Phi.
In 1997, Frank was recognized for 30 years as an extension professional by the national honorary extension fraternity Epsilon Sigma Phi.
In his retirement, Frank enjoyed visiting with people, playing card games, volunteering at the library and traveling to see family and friends.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary; son, Dr. Stuart (Mary) Frank; daughter, Barbara Frank; grandchildren, Ellen Croghan (Joe) and William Frank (Marjorie); great-grandchildren, Eleanor Croghan, Ida Croghan, and his namesake, Kenneth Frank; brother-in-law, Mike (Doc) Hansen; sister-in-law, Lowene Uehling; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents, William and Leona (Siecke) Frank, his sister, Betty Hansen, and brother-in-law, Homer Uehling.
Frank will be interred, with military honors, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, July 18, 2025, at the Omaha National Cemetery, 14250 Schram Road, Omaha, Nebraska.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 19, 2025, Grace Lutheran Church, 11640 A St, Walton, NE with luncheon to follow.
