JOANNA FRANK

FRANK--Joanna Graf. Joanna Graf Frank died peacefully and at home, on Wednesday, 09 April 2025. She was surrounded by her son, Robert Frank, close friends Josh Ryan and Jenna Luong, and her kind and loving care-giver, Winstonia Swartz, for whom her family is very grateful. She was the daughter of the late Mrs. J. Winthrop Davis, IV, and her late first husband, Albert John Graf. She was the step- daughter of Mr. Davis, who was very kind, dapper, and fun. Sadly, he too predeceased her, as did her husband, Robert Martin Frank, and her brother David Morton Graf. Born on 01 May 1937, her early childhood was spent in Wilmette, Illinois and in Marquette, Michigan. At thirteen she moved with her parents to Stonington, Connecticut, where she was to maintain a residence through-out her life. She attended the Dana Hall School, and graduated from Smith College in 1959. Early on she was interested in the up and coming field of Computer Science, which was to lead to a successful advertising career in New York City in Market Research. From the mid-sixties to the early seventies she worked at YOUNG & RUBICAM. It was the heyday of American Advertising: Creative, Glamourous, Exciting, and Fun just as portrayed in the TV Series, MAD MEN, which was much inspired by Y&R. It was there that she met her husband, Robert Frank, who proposed to her on New Year's Eve, and they married a month later in 1967. What a Marvelous Time: abundant trips to Paris where The Crillon and Le Grand Vefour were their "Go-Tos"; And The Plaza Hotel's Oak Room, filled with the sweet smell of Gitanes and Cigar smoke, and it's view of Central Park. Heady, inspiring, and most memorable, indeed. Joanna was delightful, but Oh So Much More than just a "Fun Girl." She was intelligent, hardworking and amongst the first wave of women to break into management in the '60s, and was also amongst the first wave of Computer Programmers in the '80s. Besides Young and Rubicam, she spent time at Grey Advertising and Dancer Fitzgerald, Sample, where she worked in Market Research. And later, specializing in Computer Programming, at Trewella, Cohen, & Arbuckle, Coopers & Lybrand, and Mobius. During the summer she especially enjoyed Stonington as she loved to sail, and was a member of both The Wadawanuck Club and Stonington Harbor Yacht Club. Burial was private, but a Memorial Service is planned in June. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Stonington Library.