Frank was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey on Christmas day 1915. He trained as a Cabinet Maker and was involved in the scouting organisation.

As his family grew he began to take an interest in dogs, particularly the German Shepherd and in 1956 Frank joined the BAGSD Croydon branch which began an involvement and a passion with this Breed and association that lasted the remaining 53 years of his life. Five years after he joined the BAGSD, in 1961, he qualified as a BAGSD instructor which is when he first met Doreen when she arrived at Croydon BAGSD with an unruly puppy.

In 1962 Frank was co-opted onto the BAGSD Executive Committee and formally elected two years later. He then became vice chairman of the London Liaison Council and chairman three years later in 1966. During this time Frank had also began to judge at obedience shows and qualified as a championship obedience judge.

Frank and Doreen moved to Spire Ridge in 1967 and together ran a quarantine and boarding kennels for the following 43 years. Frank also became involved in local politics as a parish and a county councillor as well as sitting on the board of governors for two local schools. During this time he was described as a man of quiet, unassuming and totally reliable good sense, always prepared to do a good job of work in the background whenever it was needed.

In 1968 he was elected onto the Kennel Club obedience council and also became a Director of Training for the BAGSD. Three years later he became the Director of Branches and the Obedience Supervisor for the Southern Area and during this period spent a great deal of time visiting branches in the Southern Area and attending shows.

 He was elected as the Vice Chairman of the BAGSD in 1972 and the following year he began to represent the BAGSD at the WUSV meetings and Sieger shows in Germany.

In 1982 Frank was elected Chairman of the BAGSD, a position he held until he retired from it 20 years later, which is even more impressive when you consider that he was elected annually and indicates the respect held for him by his colleagues within the organisation.

In 1985 Frank became a member of the Kennel Club and has regularly attended this organisation for their General Meetings and other meetings organised regarding the German Shepherd and the BAGSD.

In 1994 at the BAGSD AGM Frank was elected the President of the organisation that he had worked so hard for over the previous 38 years in recognition for his dedication, loyalty and support.

Not resting on his laurels, at the age of 86, Frank chaired the initial meetings of the WUSV working group, a joint venture between the BAGSD and the GSD League to give German Shepherd Dog owners in the UK the ability to train and show their dogs the German way with the acceptance of the UK Kennel Club, one of his goals since attending the WUSV meetings in Germany in the early seventies.

Unfortunately in September 2008 Frank attended his last Sieger and WUSV meeting in Aachen, Germany and has been missed by many since.

He last attended a BAGSD Executive Committee meeting in November and I feel that my fellow EC members would agree that we will miss the wisdom and council of this wonderful person and will have to console ourselves with the question “What would Frank do?”

I feel sure that Franks passing has  touched every one he knew and the loss will be felt forever within the association and the breed

Wayne Lacey