Karl Frantzen

March 6, 1922 - March 11, 2020

Karl Herman Frantzen, 98, Topeka, Kansas, died of old age on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Karl was born March 6, 1922, in Boulder, Colorado, the youngest son of Nels and Nellie Johnson Frantzen. His father worked for the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad and the family resided in Colorado, Illinois, and Iowa during Karl's youth. He graduated from Lanyon High School in Lanyon, Iowa in 1940. He attended Iowa State University from 1941 to 1942 and then from 1947 to 1949, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in agricultural education. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942 and served honorably until 1943. He also enlisted in the Iowa Air National Guard in 1949 and served honorably through 1950. On May 16, 1945, Mildred Bernice Skola and Karl Frantzen were united in marriage in Ames, Iowa. Their marriage lasted for 70 years until Mildred's death in 2015. From 1949 through 1961, Karl was employed in Iowa at various occupations. He farmed in Spirit Lake, Iowa and then taught high school in Manson, Iowa from 1949 to 1950. In 1950, he moved his family to Ames, Iowa and sold rope and cordage products for the Plymouth Cordage Company until 1953. In 1953, Karl moved his family to Webster City, Iowa and worked in the fertilizer business, managing the Agricultural Products Corporation fertilizer plant at Highview, Iowa, and then sold fertilizer for the Ozark-Mahoning Company. In 1961, he was employed by the Northern Natural Gas Company and moved his family to Omaha, Nebraska. Karl worked for Northern Natural Gas Company and its successor companies in engineering research and environmental management until his retirement in 1987. Karl and Mildred remained in Omaha from 1961 until 2014. At that time they relocated to Aldersgate Village in Topeka, Kansas for their final retirement years. Karl is survived by three children, Sharon Lee Bennett, Jeffrey Alan Frantzen and Kurt Anthony Frantzen; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred, an infant son, and all of his siblings. Funeral services will be private Tuesday March 17, 2020. Interment will be at the Lost Grove Township Cemetery near Gowrie, Iowa. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Assisted Care Facility at Aldersgate Village, sent in care of the funeral home.