Francis Patrick Begley

Frank P. Begley, 82, of Leawood, KS, passed away on May 18, 2016. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, May 28, at Cure of Ars Catholic Church, 9401 Mission Road, Leawood, KS. Burial in Resurrection Cemetery, 83rd and Quivira, Lenexa, KS. Visitation, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any contributions be made to Boy Scout Troop 395 or to Cure of Ars Church.

Frank was born August 7, 1933, in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Saint Louis Preparatory Seminary for high school and continued there for his first year of college. Upon realizing that he did not possess a priestly vocation, Frank joined the Marine Corps, completed basic training at Camp Pendleton, and then served four years in Korea and in the Aleutian Islands. While in service he attained the rank of Sergeant in the First Marine Division, 7th Marines Regiment, 3rd Battalion. Frank returned to St. Louis after the war, worked as an iron worker, and then attended the University of Missouri in Columbia. His first professional career position was as Public Relations Coordinator for the Archdiocese in St. Louis. He married Shirley Nordsiek on June 3, 1961 and they had two children. In 1970, he accepted a job offer with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Kansas City and relocated his family to Leawood. He worked there for several years before joining Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He attained the position of Deputy Regional Director of FEMA. Frank retired in 1998.

Frank really did not retire, though. He embarked on his new career as GRANDPA to his 7 grandchildren and attended every birthday party, school event, musical performance, game, scouting award ceremony, and graduation. He would bring over doughnuts on Saturday mornings and one of the kids’ favorite memories was going to lunch with grandpa on the last day of school every year.

Frank had a keen mind and loved to read, especially history books. He was proud of his Irish heritage and would sing the old Irish songs in his beautiful tenor voice. In his younger days, he enjoyed playing tennis, and he and Shirley and the kids enjoyed many fun times at the old Leawood Country Club. Frank took up walking for his exercise 15 years ago and what started out as a one mile trek built up over time to a 3 mile excursion through old Leawood. The decision Frank made to begin walking ultimately afforded him the wonderful opportunity to meet a group of fantastic guys who met each day for breakfast at Ranchmart Shopping Center. This began a great friendship of gentlemen who shared stories of their personal, professional, and military careers.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, Patrick and Jean Begley. He is survived by his beloved wife, Shirley, his sister, Mary Murphy, two children, Alison Schissler and John Begley, son-in-law Samuel Schissler,7 grandchildren, Rachele Begley, Nicholas Begley, Matthew Begley, Patrick Schissler, John Schissler, Ryan Schissler, Katherine Schissler, and 2 great-grandchildren, Jacklynn Begley and Dominic Blades.

We wish to extend our thanks and appreciation to all of our family and friends for their constant prayers and support during this time. We also wish to thank Drs. Ron and Renee Hartman, who tirelessly led the charge in dad’s medical care and who spent countless hours with our family, to the ICU nurses at St. Luke’s South Hospital for their excellent skills, dedication to, and compassion for Frank, to Dr. Cosmo Caruso, who consulted on this case and who offered excellent advice, and to Kevin from DaVita, who maintained a fine balancing act in Frank’s care. Finally, the family would also like to express our appreciation to all of his dear friends at Price Chopper. Their friendship meant the world to him.