Randy Frame

Randy D. Frame of Port Washington was a creative businessman who devoted himself to making things better or work easier.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in structural engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering, he worked at Inryco in Milwaukee before beginning his own company, Frame Engineering in Port Washington.

The company did work throughout the country, Mr. Frame’s wife Denise said, including the addition to the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the tower at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, she said.

Frame Engineering was just one of a number of businesses Mr. Frame owned and operated through the years, including Architectural Framing Systems and most recently Fire Safety Inspections Services.

“He was an inventor,” his wife said. “He would draw all night and come up with all these ideas.

“He was a very creative man, very good with numbers and very intelligent.”

His family said he loved working on projects, adding he had “the imagination of a child and the brain of a true genius.”

But mostly, his family said, Mr. Frame was a man with a big heart who was devoted to his family.

“There was no one who met him who didn’t like him,” his wife said.

His family described him as “loving, selfless, intelligent, and spontaneous individual with a sense of humor that was as big as his personality and his heart.”

Mr. Frame “loved his family more than anything,” family members said. “He enjoyed packing up the car and taking the kids on a spontaneous weekend trip, always reminding them that life is about making memories.

“Even as the kids became adults, he remained ever-present in their lives and a constant source of advice.”

Mr. Frame died of leukemia Tuesday, June 4, at the Center for Advanced Care at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. He was 66.

He had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in June 2018.

“He made a promise that no matter what, he was going to fight and beat this horrible disease,” his family said. “He never stopped fighting and he never lost hope, always reminding others that he never quits anything. There were times the treatments kept Randy from walking more than a few steps, yet he would use those steps to get himself on the stationary bike where he could ride for miles.”

Mr. Frame was a passionate bicyclist who took up the hobby as a child and continued to enjoy biking with members of the bicycle club he founded and in charity rides, as well as for fun.

His wife noted that when he was young, Mr. Frame raced at the Velodrome in Kenosha. Years later, he was on a plane paging through the in-flight magazine, he saw a photo of himself with his father just before one of his races. He collected as many copies as he could, she said.

Mr. Frame was a native of Rockford, Ill., born on May 17, 1953, to Don and Doris Frame.  

 He grew up in Kenosha and graduated from Tremper High School.

On June 12, 2016, Randy married Denise Fransee at Walden-A Supper Club on Wallace Lake.

The couple “loved their life they had together whether it was packing up the car for a road trip across the country, heading up north, flying to a different side of the world or just sitting on their deck with friends,” family members said.

“He loved animals,” his wife said, noting their most recent pet was a golden retriever named Sadie.

Mr. Frame “loved to tell stories, and he had so many to tell,” his wife said.

He enjoyed woodworking, traveling, taking pictures and spending time with his family and friends.  

He was also a member of the Port Washington Plan Commission and the Port Washington Rotary Club.

Mr. Frame is survived by his wife Denise of Port Washington; children Daniel (Zoe) of Milwaukee, Katy (Chris) Norgel of West Bend; Steve of Milwaukee and Patrick “PJ” (Karsen) of Belgium; stepchildren Johnny LaFond of Port Washington and Camrin LaFond of Milwaukee; and granddaughter Bailey McGavock.

He is further survived by his brother Dennis (Susan)  of Osseo; sister Deb (Gary) Haag of Dodgeville;  brothers-in-law Doug (Casey) Fransee of Grafton and Don (Ginny) Fransee of Oconomowoc.   

 Mr. Frame was preceded in death by his parents Don and Doris Frame and brother Michael.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 15, at First Congregational Church in Port Washington with the Rev. Jeff Suddendorf presiding.  

Visitation will be at the church Saturday from 9 a.m. until the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the family or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at https://events.lls.org/pages/wi/2019ScenicShore150/RandyFrame. Reference “Team Frame” in the memo if submitting a check.

Arrangements are being handled through Eernisse Funeral Home in Port Washington.