Dear Puget Sound Faculty Emeriti, friends and former students,
We’re writing today to share the news that Dr. Frank Danes, professor emeritus of Physics, passed away peacefully at his home in Prague on March 10, 2023, with a smile on his lips, with his beloved Dvorak's 9th Symphony playing, and with his wife, Julsimo, and his son, Peter, holding his hands. He was 102 years old.
Frank lived not only a long life but one that was full and robust. He was a personality who had a palpable, powerful presence in whatever context or situation he found himself. Born in 1920 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Frank’s studies at Charles University were interrupted by the German invasion; from 1939-1945, he was active in anti-Nazi underground. Toward the end of the war, he married Marie Hanka. Later he completed his studies with a PhD in geophysics from Charles University in 1949. In 1950, Frank and Marie narrowly escaped arrest by the Communist authorities and ultimately traveled through West Germany to the United States. Once in this country, Frank and Marie began their family; their son Peter was born in 1954, followed in 1956 by their daughter Ellen. Frank found work first with Gulf Oil, and then with Boeing’s aerospace program.
Frank was directly recruited to Puget Sound by President Franklin Thompson. While working for Boeing, Frank had been temporarily filling in for a professor at a school in Minnesota when he was visited by Dr. Thompson. After a successful campaign (involving at least one visit to Minnesota, and phone calls to both Frank and to his wife Marie) Frank joined our faculty in 1962.
At Puget Sound, Frank taught all levels of physics and developed an upper-level course in geophysics for physics and geology majors. His research included a major gravity survey of the entire Puget Sound region. As an expert in the study of Earth’s interior, Frank was chosen to give the Regester Lecture in 1973. Frank was a great supporter of students and of the junior faculty whom he mentored. When not teaching or doing research, he was often seen hiking or skiing in the mountains with groups of students or faculty. Upon his retirement from Puget Sound in 1984, Frank continued to work in research for many years with the local office of the US Geological Survey.
While still teaching at Puget Sound, Frank encountered another significant challenge: Marie suffered a devastating, disabling injury while bicycling. Through the many ways this impacted her health and their lives, Frank cared for her with great devotion – allowing her to stay in their own home for many years. Marie preceded Frank in death in 1998.
Frank was accurately described as a “renaissance man.” He was athletically minded throughout his life – from coaching the cross-country skiing team in the 1960s and 1970s, to running over 100 marathons, to celebrating his 100th birthday with a kayak trip down the Danube River from Vienna to Bratislava. Frank also learned to play multiple instruments and spent many years playing in the Tacoma Community College orchestra; taught himself classical Greek so that he could read Homer and Herodotus in the original; and was deeply involved in international intellectual debate concerning the authenticity of a set of medieval Czech manuscripts.
In his ‘80s, Frank met and married Julsimo Duisebayeva, first connecting at a Czech-language gathering in Seattle and ultimately moving back to Prague together in 2014. In Prague, he continued to engage with intellectual, athletic, and artistic efforts – even starting a string quartet and a chamber music ensemble.
In this rich life, Frank continually lived into his sense of values, seeking to do right for others and for the community. One example of this is how Frank, after experiencing life as a refugee, vowed to “pay it forward” by helping other refugee families settle in the United States, something he continued to do late in life. He held a deep sense of patriotism and respect for those serving in military and police forces. The latter extended to our own Security Staff, for whom he baked home-made bread during winter break while they watched over an otherwise-empty campus. His baking reflected yet another layer of life: Frank deeply enjoyed food, family, and the good things in life, from entertaining children with his hand puppet (“Freddy”) to his beloved hot red wine.
Frank did not want a funeral or memorial service, but if you knew Frank and would like to connect, please contact his daughter Ellen at 253.240.5265 or ellenmwhiting@yahoo.com. For all of us who knew Frank, knew of him, or have been impacted by his life: may his memory be a gift and a blessing for each of us.
With gratitude,
Rev. Dave Wright, University Chaplain
Dr. Andrew Rex, Professor, Physics