Frank Newell Stanley III

Frank Newell Stanley III, age 82, died peacefully on November 26, 2024, at his home in Austin, Texas. Frank was born in Washington, D.C. on December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, to Frank and Mary Malloy Stanley. With all the fear and apprehension in the city, Frank’s mother went into labor three weeks before her due date, delivering him during a city-wide blackout. She recalled the nuns in the hospital running around hysterically, pulling all the window shades down. As soon as Frank’s father could, he took mother and infant home and promptly joined the Navy.

Frank was a descendant of Captain John Stanley who settled Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1634. By 1636, Cambridge had become too crowded, so the Stanleys moved to Connecticut where they helped found the town of Hartford.

Frank attended parochial schools in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He was the only boy in his school who had two paper routes, The Washington Post in the morning and The Evening Star at night. He attended Gonzaga College High School, a Jesuit institution in downtown Washington. The family moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1957.

Frank’s mother would not tolerate indolence. Therefore, during the summers he sold Bibles door-to-door, was a Fuller Brush salesman, and worked at the first McDonald’s in Jacksonville. After complaining of installing attic insulation in the summer heat, Frank’s father got him a job the next year at an Oscar Meyer freezer distribution center.

Frank was a 1964 graduate of Georgia Tech with a degree in management. He was president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and the intramural racquet ball champion of the school. Although his father paid for his education, he doubled his resources by working full time at Parks-Chambers haberdashers and tripled them from nightly poker winnings. It was during this time that he learned when to fold.

Frank attended Naval Officers Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned an Ensign in 1966. He was weapons officer and navigator on the destroyer USS Mills, based in Key West and then Executive Officer on the U.S.S. Rexburg, a spy ship based in San Diego. He was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal for leadership and left active service with the rank of full Lieutenant in 1969.

He obtained an MBA from the University of Florida in 1970 and joined the Atlantic National Bank in Jacksonville, Florida as an investment officer. From 1975 until 1984, Frank was a Vice President of Montag & Caldwell, investment council, Atlanta, Georgia. It was during this time that he met Mary O’Kelley, of Athens, Georgia, whom he went on to marry. They were blessed with two children: Laura Malloy Stanley and Paul Joshua Stanley. In 1984 Frank, along with his family, moved to Memphis, Tennessee to accept a job at Southeastern Asset Management, eventually becoming a partner and Vice President and working until his retirement in 2009.

Frank was an accomplished cook who needed no recipes, knew that salt would not dissolve in oil and why pastries should not be made with salted butter. He was a neo-luddite who hated radio and movies and was delighted when television was invented so he could hate that too. He had no sunglasses, used barbless hooks, and drove a stick shift all his life, until his wife decided to drive him. He did his beloved New York Times crosswords in ink. Late in life, Frank got a flip phone and an iPad, which he used occasionally for help with his crosswords. He was a trustee of St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Memphis, a Regent of Gonzaga College High School, Washington and a major benefactor to Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary School in Harlem, NY.

Frank is survived by his wife of forty-four years, Mary Stanley of Austin, Texas, his daughter Laura Stanley of Bozeman, Montana, son Josh Stanley (Melissa Ridgway Stanley) and his sons Flynn and Ridge of Bozeman, Montana. He is also survived by siblings, Anne Stanley and Peter Stanley. He was predeceased by his sister, Martha McShea.

Per his wishes, no service is planned.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Friends of the Children (friendsaustin.org) or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org).