Mary Margaret Frank

Mary Margaret Frank, 100, Grand Forks, died Thursday, October 4, 2012 in 4000 Valley Square - Woodside Village, Grand Forks. Mary Margaret French was born August 8, 1912 in Grand Forks, ND. She was the daughter of Dr. H.E. French and Mabel (Townsley) French. Her father was Dean of the UND Medical School. She was a baptized member of the Church of Christ, and at the time of her death was a long-time member of Federated Church of Grand Forks. Mary Margaret attended Winship Junior High and Central Senior High School. She graduated from UND with a Bachelor of Arts and completed her Master of Arts in English Literature at Wellsely College, Wellsely, Massachusetts in 1937. She next obtained a Masters of Library Science from the University of Illinois. She returned to North Dakota to teach high school English in Crary and Devils Lake, but left to teach in Marshalltown, Iowa and Nashville, Tennessee. She again returned to Grand Forks at the request of the Grand Forks Public Library Board, and became the Head Librarian in 1955. In 1957 she married Richard E. Frank, Professor of Chemistry at UND. They lived their entire married life in Grand Forks, but traveled abroad often, including a trip back to Richard's beloved hometown in Germany. Mary Margaret had a love of books and puppetry all of her life, and collected over 25 puppets to use in her story-telling time for children and adults at the public library. Her puppet collection was given by Mary Margaret to the public school system to carry on the tradition of puppetry in story telling. She enjoyed playing the piano all of her life, and also taught piano to Grand Forks children. She devoted many years of her life to organizations such as P.E.O., The Round Table, The Franklin Club, and American Association of University Women. She was preceded in death by her loving husband Richard, her parents, and her brother, Townsley (Tow) French. Memorial Services: 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 21, 2012 in Amundson Funeral Home.