Franklyn Donald Hemmert

Frank Hemmert, a cherished friend, husband, father, and grandfather, passed away peacefully on November 18, 2024, at the age of 91. Frank balanced a life of family loyalty and hard work with a fun-loving disposition and adventurous travel around the world. He was outgoing, plucky, and generous, but his trademark was his own sense of cornball humor. He would regale all those who would listen with his volumes of jokes and stories, which many of us now have memorized line for line. He is survived by his wife, Denise Ward, brother Bob, children Michael, Kathryn and Mark, and 6 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his sister, Marilyn.

It will come as no surprise to those who knew him that Frank wrote his own obituary. 

“I, Frank Hemmert, died peacefully at age 91 surrounded by family. I will be cremated and my ashes interred at the California Veterans Cemetery at Fort Ord. 

I was born at home, in Hartford CT to mother, Mary and father John Hemmert in 1933, during the Great Depression. And along with my sister, Marilyn and brother, Bob, grew up in the era of WWII. My father worked in the airplane industry, making F4U Corsair fighter planes for the Navy and Marines. I was an excellent baseball pitcher in high school and once threw a no-hitter, with my brother, Bob, catching behind the plate. After high school, I was accepted to Yale University, and graduated with a degree in civil engineering. I served as a US Navy officer in the Pacific, and met my first wife, Joan, in San Francisco at age 23. The Navy then stationed me in Morocco, North Africa, where I planned nuclear strategies around the Black Sea during the Cold War. Thank goodness that war never happened. We were blessed with two children while in Morocco, son Michael and daughter Kathryn. 

I left the Navy in 1960 and joined a young computer company called IBM, which became the largest technology company in the world over the following decades. I was a regional sales manager in Hartford, where we had our third child, Mark. I happily transferred to the Boston area in 1965, and spent considerable time playing golf and tennis, and boating. We had a beautiful home in Scituate overlooking Cape Cod Bay. Joan ran a thriving flower shop. We later divorced after 34 years of very happy marriage, but we remain friends to this day.

 I retired from IBM after 30 years and joined another computer company in New York City. I met my second wife, Denise Ward, and together we sailed 6 months a year on Denise’s boat, Cursail. We explored the US coastlines, Carribbean islands, South America, the Panama Canal, and Mexico. Along the way, Denise and I bought a wonderful, three bedroom floating home on San Francisco Bay. We loved that home. 

My children, now all on the West Coast, gave us 6 wonderful grandkids, Brian, Dana, Evan, Colby, Samantha and Oscar. And, except for me dying, we are all in excellent spirits and health. Cheers.”