Funeral services will be held on Thursday, December 27 at 1:00 PM for Nathaniel Franklin (Frank) Naff at Gipson Funeral Home with Bruce Mercer, John Havard, and Paul White officiating. Visitation for family and friends will be from 12:00 to 1:00 on the day of the service. Interment will follow at Garden of Memories Mausoleum.
Frank Naff was born January 11, 1939 to Thomas Watson and Grace Sawyer Naff in Bastrop, Louisiana. Frank graduated in 1957 from Bastrop High School, in 1961 from Louisiana State University, and in 1962 earned a Master’s Degree from Yale University. While at LSU, he was a varsity baseball player for four years with the 1961 team winning the SEC conference. He was offered a fellowship to Yale to pursue his Master’s degree in a two-year program which he completed in one year. After earning his graduate degree from Yale, Frank was drafted by the U.S. army. When his service in the army was completed, he was employed by Georgia-Pacific Corporation in Crossett, Arkansas. He worked for GP until retiring after 20 years. He then worked for Temple Inland and retired the second time from Atkinson Candy Company. After that retirement, he worked for a Dallas construction company with the last five years working on a renovation project at Fort Polk, LA.
Frank is survived by Linda, his wife of 36 years, and daughter Nicole of Little Elm, TX. He was preceded in death by his parents and a daughter, Shannon. His daughters were a great joy to him. Frank’s parents both came from large families so he was blessed with many cousins. He was especially close to the “Naff boys”, Dan, Barry and Ken, who were like his younger brothers. Their father, Tom, was a combination second father and older brother.
Frank and Linda loved to travel and visited every state at least once with the exception of Hawaii. Their favorite destination was New England in the fall where they traveled a number of times. Frank was an avid and gifted sportsman, winning a number of awards in baseball, fishing, archery, and golf. He was drafted by the New York Yankees baseball team but decided to take advantage of the opportunity to attend Yale. He was a member of Lufkin Country Club and served as president of the golf association. He was also a member of the Angelina Rifle and Pistol Club. In his later years, he became a great fan of bulls-eye shooting, winning a number of regional and state awards in that sport. As his health declined, he missed shooting and golf so much. He loved to cook and was the primary chef of the family focusing on Cajun foods. He possessed a unique sense of humor, loved to be around people and never met a stranger. He was blessed to have many close friends.
Frank was a long time member of Central Church of Christ. Deep appreciation is extended to the members of his church family for their unfailing love, care, and prayers. Also, the family extends appreciation to the staff at Parkwood in the Pines for their care of Frank.
Pall bearers will be Danny Bebout, Joe Reagan, James Slack, John Sloan, Rick Watkins, and Wendell Thomason. Honorary pallbearers are Bob Belasco, Bob Canty, Terry Coffman, Bill Davis, Dick Donavon, Wally Dunks, and Jim Haley.
