Frank Payne Sebree II

Born in Kansas City, MO, on May 8, 1928, to Alice (Smith) Sebree and Samuel Boyd Sebree, Frank died on September 12, 2015. He was a graduate of Bryant Grade School, Southwest High School, the University of Missouri in Columbia and Harvard Law School. At M.U. he graduated a member of Phi Beta Kappa and, served a semester as President of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He also served as President of Mystical Seven, one of the two MU Senior Honorary Societies. At Harvard Law School, he graduated Magna Cum Laude, was a member of the Harvard Law Review, and was elected Class Secretary by his classmates making him, (with the very important help of the Law School Alumni Office), in charge of the 12 reunions his class has held since its members graduated in 1952. Frank also served five months as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives when he was 14 years of age.

After his graduation from law school, Frank served 22 months as a first-lieutenant in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Department. On discharge from the Service, he returned to Kansas City and practiced law in the law firm founded by his grandfather, Frank Payne Sebree. The firm is now known as Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. Frank retired from the firm in 1997, but continued to practice law as a sole practitioner in the office that the firm provided him.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Frank served six years as a member of the City Council of Kansas City, including four years as Chairman of both the City Council Finance Committee and the City Council Legislative Committee. He served a number of years as President of the Board of Directors of General Hospital which later became Truman Medical Center. His “firsts” included being the first Chairman of the Truman Medical Center Charitable Foundation, the first Chairman of Kansas City’s Municipal Officials Ethics Committee and the first President of the Board of the Pembroke Hill School (following the merger between the Pem-Day & Sunset Hill Schools).

On November 10, 1956, Frank married Mary Ann Menefee in her home town of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. His wife’s avid interest in antiques led to her career in estate appraisals and the founding of three antique businesses: Sebree Galleries in Kansas City, Hunt Country Antiques in Alexandria, VA and Mountain Village Antiques in Telluride, CO. Buying for these businesses enabled Frank, Mary Ann, and their children to spend much time together traveling. . . often to Europe, but also to Asia, Africa, South America and Mexico, as well as throughout the United States. Mary Ann died on February 4, 2012, several months after she and Frank celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.

Mr. Sebree is survived by his two married daughters and his two married sons: Laura (and Alec Smith) of Chevy Chase, MD; Mary (and Rob Connor) of Casenovia, NY; Sam II (and Lisa) of Geneva, Switzerland; and Frank III (and Jolyn) of Kansas City. A continuing source of joy for Frank has been his fifteen grandchildren: Henry, Hunter, Chan and Presley Smith; Crozer, Edie, Lucy and Laura Connor; Nathan, Anna and Sam Sebree III; and Jenssen, Sadie, Sydney and Ella Sebree.

At the request of Mr. Sebree, there will be cremation with no funeral service, and no specific request for memorial donation. His ashes will be joined with those of Mary Ann and scattered by their children in a remote mountain area.