FRANK PAYNE SEBREE II

1928 - 2015

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 lettered in tennis and served a semester as President of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He graduated a member of Phi Beta Kappa and 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 reunions his class held every five years since its members graduated in 1952.Frank also served 5 months as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives when he was 14 years of age. After graduating 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 early 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 and Chairman of the Kansas City General Hospital and, later, 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). He was also a 10-year Member of the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee of the Missouri Bar Administration. Frank was an avid tennis player and continued playing the game for more than 75 years. He was a long time member of the Kansas City Country Club as well as the University Club and, after its merger with the Kansas City Club, a member of that club as well. 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 Cazenovia, 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 his late wife and scattered by their children in a remote mountain area. Friends of the family will be invited to a Celebration of Life in the near future.