Dannie R. Frame died on August 28, 2022 at his home in Troy, Alabama after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 74.

Dan was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma on April 7th, 1948 to Forrest and Elsie Frame. When he wasn’t in school, Dan spent his younger days playing with his siblings and neighbor friends, fishing and swimming in the local lakes and rivers, and reading science fiction books where he dreamed of flying and maybe even going to space. Soon after earning his degree from North Texas State in physics, he joined the US Navy and realized part of his dream by attending Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida. While serving 21 years in the Navy, Dan was assigned to various positions around the country and one in Japan. After one sea-duty tour, the Navy sent him to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he earned an MSEE degree and graduated the top of his class. He retired from the Navy in June 2012 at China Lake Naval Weapons Center in Ridgecrest, California, but his work for the Navy continued initially as engineering contract support and later as civil service management, mostly for the F/A-18 Advanced Weapons Laboratory.

While Dan loved his country, the one true love of his life was his wife, Yvonne, whom he met on a blind date while at university in Texas. After convincing her and her parents that he was the right man, Dan and Yvonne were married in 1969. Soon after, they started a family and had two sons. Dan always considered his family his top priority and was a great husband and father.

Dan’s thirst for adventure was strong as in addition to joining the Navy and seeing much of the world, he was a private pilot for most of his adult life, a marathon runner for a number of years, and an avid hiker. In addition to climbing Mt. Fuji in Japan and hiking the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, his crowning achievement was completing the entire Appalachian Trail in 2018, a distance of nearly 2200 miles. He also enjoyed white-water rafting and especially enjoyed taking family and friends on their first white-water rafting experience and/or their first ride in his private airplane.

Dan is survived by his wife of over 52 years, Yvonne; his two sons, Marcus and Rigel; his brother, Jack and his wife, Joyce; his two sisters, Bonnie and Connie; his two daughters-in-law, Ami and Wendy; and his four grandchildren, Brisa, Solai, Hailey, and Damon. Nephews Brian, Kevin and Mark Frame, nephew Craig Hambleton and niece Kristi Hambleton.

Services will be in Arlington National Cemetery on a date TBD.

Rather than flowers, Dan asked that those who wish to do so make donations to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. (pancan.org) Paid Obituary