Frank W. McNabb, 80, of Mansfield Center, CT passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. He was born on April 10, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio, to the late Frank and Bonita McNabb. He attended Rocky River High School and initiated his college career at Miami University in Ohio. While at Miami, he was a member of the Airforce ROTC where he started a Drill Team which traveled throughout Ohio, performing at various schools and events. He also became a brother of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. After deciding to major in engineering, he transferred to The Ohio State University, where he graduated with a BS-Mechanical Engineering degree. It is there where his Phi Kappa Tau fraternity was across the street from his future wife Kay’s Alpha Phi sorority. Frank started his career as a Project Engineer with Union Carbide, later becoming First Brands Corp., where, over the course of 34 years, worked his way up the corporate ladder, culminating as Executive VP of Global Operations. His career resulted in moving the family to 6 states. After retirement, he was active on numerous Board of Directors, and taught Entrepreneurship courses at University of Connecticut and Eastern
Connecticut State University. Frank was a hard-core athlete, who lettered in 4 Varsity sports in high school. He was an avid tennis player and enjoyed the senior tennis group at Manchester Racquet Club. He started running and finished 5 marathons after the age of 50. He loved attending and watching all kinds of sports, especially the Ohio State Buckeyes, New England Patriots, and UConn Women’s basketball. He also loved attending his 7 grandchildren’s participation in soccer, lacrosse, and tennis. Frank is survived by his wife of 57 years, Kay (Dixon) McNabb, his son Tom McNabb, daughter-in-law Trish (Zampell) McNabb, and grandchildren Ryan McNabb and Brandon McNabb of Westford, MA; his son Mark McNabb, daughter-in-law Diana McNabb, grandchildren Julie McNabb and Jaida McNabb of Portsmouth, NH; daughter Kathy McNabb Bujese of Mansfield Center, CT, and grandchildren Courtney Bujese, Kyle Bujese and Nate Bujese; and brother Ralph McNabb in Texas. A “Celebration of Life” will be held at 11:00 am (doors open at 10:30 am), on Saturday, March 25, 2017 at the Tolland Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Merrow Road, Tolland, CT 06084. For on-line condolences, please visit www.pietrasfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (http://www.dana-farber.org/), 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215; or The Ohio State University Foundation, College of Engineering Undergraduate Student Scholarship Fund # 302281 (https://www.giveto.osu.edu/makeagift/?fund=302281), 1480 W. Lane Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43221
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