Captain Frank Wendzel

Captain Frank was born June 14, 1920 in Monarch, Wyoming. He grew up in Erie, Colorado. He joined the Army Air Forces in 1941. During his service, he was a part of the nuclear weapons tests for Operation Crossroads and received several medals, including an American Campaign medal, European-African-Middle East Campaign medal, World War II Victory medal, and Overseas Service Bars. After his military service in WWII, he attended the University of Colorado, where he was awarded an engineering degree; and then later completed post-graduate work at MIT and UCLA. Following his service, he worked on the Mercury, Apollo, and Atlas space missions while residing in San Diego. He met his wife, Marguerite, in 1957, they married in 1959, and moved to Orange County in 1966 with their three children. As a civilian, he worked in the defense industry, and retired from McDonnell Douglas in the late eighties. Frank is listed as an inventor on 17 USPTO patents.

Frank was predeceased by his wife, Marguerite, and is survived by his daughters Susan (Kenson), Sherry (Frank), son Stan (Denise); and grandchildren Olivia, Whitney, Jaymee (Tony), Alyssa (Shayne), Bailey (Jason), Alyssa (Ryan), Davis (Rachel); and great-grandchildren Paizley, Sayge, Linkyn, and Oakley.

A visitation for Frank will be held Friday, February 11, 2022 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary, 14801 Beach Blvd, Westminster, CA 92683. A funeral service will occur Saturday, February 12, 2022 from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM at Westminster Memorial Park Mortuary.

Frank Wendzel was an avid tennis player and was swinging his racquet doing forehands just weeks before he passed. Since he loved seeing the junior tennis players turn pro, in lieu of flowers we are requesting donations be made to the USTA Foundation.

Your gift supports the key, life-changing programs that helped over 16,000 students pick up racquets for the first time in their lives in 2020 when equipment was sent into homes and lessons went online, enhanced scholarship funding for college-bound seniors, and ensured that nearly 100% of high-performance students in the Excellence Program were awarded full or partial scholarships from universities where they will play collegiate tennis. You can designate where your donation applies.

Link: https://www.ustafoundation.com/donate

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.westminstermemorial.net for the Wendzel family.