Frank Stulen

TRAVERSE CITY — Frank Stulen passed away Friday, June 25, at home on Long Lake in the comfort of his wife and family. Frank was born Jan. 22, 1921, in Bellevue, Pa., the son of Lida and Walter Stulen. He graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and in the U.S. Air Force from 1942 to 1946 in charge of helicopter rotor development. After his military service, he and his wife Dorothy "Dotty" moved to Traverse City, where he took a position with Parsons Corporation as Chief Engineer and Vice President of Engineering designing helicopter rotor blades.Frank and Dotty met in first grade, courted during their school years and married in 1943. Together they have three children, Lorna, Rick and Chip, who live in Arizona, California and Vermont respectively. They also have seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, all who care deeply for Frank.Frank was passionate about helping the community and spent his adult life giving back to the Grand Traverse Area, a place always very special to him. He is a member and past president of Rotary, he was the first president of Traverse Area Foundation, served as Traverse City Commissioner (1959-1965) and Mayor (1961-1962). He was a trustee and board president of Munson Medical Center, recipient of the Traverse City Distinguished Citizen Award (1972) and a member of many local area committees over the years. In 1985 Frank, with business partner John Parsons, traveled to the White House to receive the National Medal of Technology, which honored their work as inventors of numerical machine control, the foundation of modern computer-controlled machining used throughout the world.Frank loved the outdoors and, with Dotty, taught their family to enjoy sailing, skiing, tennis, biking, camping, fishing and more. An adventurer and traveler at heart, he spent a lifetime making connections worldwide, all of which continue to touch him, Dotty and his friends today. His family loves, cherishes and honors him and wishes him peace as he makes his journey.The family invites his friends to an informal memorial remembrance followed by and open house to be held at the Haggerty Center, 715 E. Front St., Sunday, July 11, from 2 to 4 p.m.Memorial donations should be directed to Doctors Without Borders, which can be found at www.doctorswithoutborders.org. The family is being served by The Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home.

Frank Stulen

June 25, 2010