Frank S. Tarbell

Tarbell, Col. Frank S. U.S.A. (Ret.) CLIFTON PARK Colonel Frank S. Tarbell, United States Army, retired, 89, of Clifton Park, passed October 10, 2017, at the Home of the Good Shepherd, Saratoga Springs. Son of the late Phillip and Frances Tarbell of East Haven, Conn., he graduated from Hopkins School, New Haven, Conn. and enlisted in the Army, serving in Korea. He graduated with the class of '51 from Yale; and was commissioned as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers. He built airports in England; earned master's at Purdue; served as an Army attache behind the Iron Curtain and worked on satellite surveillance during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also a battalion commander in South Korea and helped to negotiate reversion of Okinawa to Japan. He became a professor of military science at R.P.I. in Troy. He was highly decorated, including Legion of Merit three times. He retired after 30 years of service and was hired as director of Aviation for the Metropolitan Aviation Authority; then was the director of building for the town of Clifton Park. He led several civic associations; and was a member of the American Legion and the Elks. He loved his family, the Army, flying, boating, and camping on Sacandaga Lake. Survived by his devoted wife of 69 years, June Dube Tarbell; loving children, David and Marlene Tarbell of Falls Church, Va., Greg and Shana Tarbell of Seattle, Wash. and Kathryn (Kasia) and Vince Spadaro of Malta; grandchildren, Caelan, Nicole, Ben and Becca Tarbell, Jack Tarbell, Nicholas Spadaro, Christine and Ryan Murphy; and his great-granddaughter, Abigail Murphy. Funeral services will be held at the Gordon C. Emerick Funeral Home, 1550 Rte. 9, Clifton Park, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 18. Friends and relatives are invited to call at the funeral home prior to the service from 10 - 11 a.m. Frank will be laid to rest with full military honors in the Saratoga National Cemetery at 12:30 p.m. Flowers are welcome at the funeral home or donations to WoundedWarriorProject.org For fuller obituary and to express online condolences, go to gordoncemerickfuneralhome.com.