FRANK WALLACE MAY

Frank May, 84 years of age, passed away in his home on Sept. 22, 2010, after a very brief illness.
He was lovingly surrounded by his family: Lois Glasscock May with whom he was to celebrate sixty years of marriage in January, 2011. With him at the time of his death were his two sons: Douglas Reynolds May of Jefferson City; Bruce Caldwell May (wife, Janna) of Bonne Terre, Missouri; and his daughter, Jeanne Wallace May Smith (husband, David), of Jefferson City. He was preceded in death by one son, John Randolph May. Also present were his grandchildren: Nicole Jean May Dougan (husband, Daniel) of Lake Ozark; Thomas D. Smith (wife, Margo Hagar Smith) of St. Louis; Christina Marie Smith of Columbia; and Annie Laurie Smith Bledsoe (husband, Matt) of Jefferson City. Unable to be there, but present through their love and devotion, were Heather Dawn May of Hollywood, California; Emylie Ann May of Denver, Colorado; and Amy Pacheco Evans of Lake Ozark, Missouri. His great-grandchildren are Cameron Ling, Kellen Dougan, Miranda Dougan, Saela May, Alexandria Evans, and Nathaniel Dougan. These cherished close family members, as well as a beloved Godson, Stephen Zenishek of Jefferson City, were a source of great pride and joy to Frank who felt his family was the greatest achievement of his life.. They all will remember him as a devoted and attentive father and grandfather.
Frank was the son of the Reverend Hugh and Lillian May, residing in Desloge, Missouri, at the time of his birth. Before the untimely death of his mother when Frank was eighteen months old, she requested that he be raised by H.R. Pete Stahl and his wife, Helen Stahl, feeling her missionary husband would be unable to care for this young child. Helen, who at the time was the St. Francois County health nurse, had cared for Franks mother during her two week illness. He maintained a close and loving relationship with his father, Hugh, who died in 1951, and his brother, Hugh John May, deceased, and twin sisters, Dorothy Painter of Germantown, Tennessee, and Elizabeth J. May of Jefferson City.
His early education was in the public schools in Desloge, Missouri, and Flat River Junior College (now Mineral Area Hospital). He continued his education in the U.S. Navys V12 program, entering before his eighteenth birthday and graduating as an Ensign when nineteen. He served until the end of the war on LSTs along the coastlines of China and other Pacific Rim countries. After his return to civilian life, he gratefully used the opportunity offered by the GI Bill to attend Washington University from which he graduated with degrees in Law and Business. After college he served as Assistant Prosecutor Attorney in St. Francois County and later as Prosecutor. He practiced law in Flat River (now Park Hills). In 1962, he was appointed to the Missouri Public Service Commission by the late Governor John Dalton and served in that capacity from 1962 to 1968 at which time he returned to St. Francois County to practice law in Desloge, Missouri. In 1971, Frank returned with his family to Jefferson City where he represented Laclede Gas until his retirement. He worked a short time after this retirement as Counsel for the Missouri State Tax Commission.
Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday, August 26, 2010, at Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home with Pastor James P. Mueller officiating. Burial will full military honors will be 2 p.m. Saturday, August 28th, at St. Francois Cemetery. Visitation will be 9-11 a.m. Thursday, August 26th, at Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to Bonne Terre Congregational United Church of Christ, or Peace United Church of Christ in Hartsburg, Mo. Those wishing to email condolences to the family may do so at the www.dulletrimble.com website.