We sadly announce the passing of Robert Franklin (Frank) Mensel, 94, on September 4, 2023 in Denton, Texas. He was born on June 22, 1929 in Provo, Utah to Olive Christiane Syndergaard Mensel and Harry Bowman Mensel, a few weeks after the family had moved to Provo from the town of Hiawatha in Carbon County.

Frank was a people person and a gifted writer, qualities that laid a foundation for a varied and highly successful professional career. He spent his youth in Provo, where he became editor of the Provo High student newspaper and a stringer for the Provo Herald. He married his childhood sweetheart, Carol Adams, in 1949. Across 48 years together, they raised four children, cultivated numerous friends, and played countless games of bridge and rounds of golf.

The family moved to Salt Lake City in the early 1950’s, where Frank served as a news reporter at all of Salt Lake’s major newspapers. Among other notable assignments, he was lead reporter for the Deseret News in covering the 1956 mid-air plane crash over the Grand Canyon that claimed 128 lives. He also covered open-air nuclear tests in southern Nevada, as well as the government crackdown on polygamy in Short Creek, Arizona. In 1956, he was asked to serve as director of the news bureau for the University of Utah.

Frank was also active in political affairs, becoming the president of the Young Democrats of Utah. From 1956 to 1958, he wrote policy statements for the Democratic Party, including for congressional candidate David S. King. When King was elected to the U.S. congress in 1958, he tapped Frank to be his press secretary, the beginning of the family’s dual existence in both Utah and Maryland. King served three terms from 1958 to 1966, and Frank ultimately became his staff director. When King finally lost his seat in 1966, Frank received an executive service appointment as assistant administrator for the Small Business Administration, and the family moved to Maryland on a permanent basis.

In 1968, Frank began the most consequential phase of his career, accepting a job as the sole federal liaison for the American Association of Junior Colleges and the Association of Community College Trustees. From then until retirement, Frank was in continuous service to America’s junior and community colleges, arguably writing more words in support of community colleges than any person of his era. Among his proudest achievements was the passage of the Pell Grant program, which he brought to fruition in partnership with Senator Claiborne Pell and Dr. Lois Rice, Frank’s longtime policy colleague. The Pell Grant program now funds a significant portion of all tuition fees at community colleges nationwide. Later, he was a key player in authoring the Montgomery G.I. Bill. Frank was also a national policy advisor for the American Student Association of Community Colleges, an organization he co-founded. This track record of service to higher education eventually earned Frank an honorary doctorate degree from Salt Lake Community College.

Frank’s first wife Carol passed away in 1997. He later married Dr. Bonny Franke and acquired three lovely new daughters and numerous adoring grandchildren. They made their home in Plano (and later Denton), and he spent the remainder of his life in Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Dorothy Stratton, Laura Montori, and Marjorie Denny; first wife, Carol Adams Mensel; and grandson George Glissmeyer. He is survived by wife, Bonny Franke, daughter Zenda Schwab (Paul); three sons: Fred Mensel (Jane), Darrell Mensel, Bob Mensel (Dale); three step-daughters: Carole Franke Bonner (Henry), Sandra Kim Lepley (Bob), Paula Franke Mears (Bruce); 14 grandchildren and step-grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren.

Those who knew Frank knew his love for humor and thirst for knowledge, so we will leave him with a quote from his blog, “Always Frank”: “If our existence has taught us anything, it’s that life requires discipline to work positively. Discipline in every phase: self, family, community, job, government, business, and the arts.”