by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A wave of sadness followed the sudden death of former St. Joseph City Council member Dr. Stephen I. “Steve” Frank, who died as a result of surgical complications June 22 at the age of 73.
Besides being a council member for seven years, Frank was a long-time professor of political science at St. Cloud State University, where he taught for 38 years before his recent retirement.
Frank served on the St. Joseph City Council from January 2008 through December 2015.
“I feel sad,” said current council member Renee Symanietz, who served on the council during Frank’s tenure. “He was on our council for quite a few years, and I am sure there will be many professors and co-workers who are sad, too. Steve had some good ideas, and he came up with a lot of good solutions for St. Joseph – such as ways to save taxpayers money. He also did an important survey for the city to find out what kind of amenities people wanted.”
Surveys were one of Frank’s subjects of expertise. In 1980, as an SCSU political-science professor, Frank originated the concept for an SCSU survey, undertaken by students under his tutelage. Since then, the Frank-led surveys including more than 150 telephone surveys have been accomplished for a wide range of clients: cities, school districts, government agencies, the Minnesota Lottery, statewide issues such as elections and current events, the State Attorney General’s Office, St. Cloud United Way and the Department of Children, Families and Learning.
Frank earned his doctorate degree from Washington State University and did extensive post-graduate work, including intense survey research at the University of Michigan.
For many years he was head of the SCSU Political Science Department. He served for a time as president of the SCSU Faculty Association and was president at one time of the Minnesota Political Science Association, which bestowed him its first Distinguished Professor of Political Science honor.
With teaching colleague Steven Wagner, Frank co-wrote a book entitled We Shocked the World! A Case Study of Jesse Ventura’s Election as Governor of Minnesota. He also authored many scholarly articles and helped write another book with Wagner.
Funeral arrangements for Frank will be made at a later date.
