James T. "Jimmy" Frantz, III, 78, died on Tuesday, February 03, 2015 at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was born on Monday, September 14, 1936 to the late James T. Frantz, Jr. and Sara Ann Frantz nee Hess in Lebanon. He was a member of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Mr. Frantz was a veteran of the Air Force and attended grade schools in Enid, Oklahoma, Forth Worth, Texas, San Marcus, Texas and Lebanon; Junior high schools in Balboa, Panama, and Montgomery, Alabam; High School in Tokyo, Japan and was a 1955 graduate of Sidney Lanier High School, Montgomery, Alabama.
Mr. Frantze earned a B.A. in Radio & TV with a minor in spanish and graduated in 1959 from the University of Alabama. He was a member of Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Rho (broadcasting honorary), Sigma Delta Pi (spanish), Alabama Quadrangle, Arnold Air Society (AFROTC) & Omicron Delta Kappa. He was also a contributing writer for Rammer Jammer & Mahout humor magazines and chief announcer at WUOA-FM.
In 1959 he was commissioned in the US Air Force as an information officer at Nellis AFB, Nevada from 1959-1962. He was discharged as a Captain, USAFR, 1970. He was an announcer, program director, newscaster & sportscaster with radio stations in Montgomery & Mobile, Alabama, Tarboro-Rocky Mount, N.C. (18 years), Douglas, Ariz., Lebanon and Frostburg, Md. He retired January 2002 as news director at WFRB AM-FM in Frostburg.
He was a National Finalist, Silver Microphone Award for commercial writing & production in 1994, 1995 & 2000. He was a member of U.S. Jaycees, Nellis AFB, Nev.,Assistant minister and member of church council of Trinity Lutheran Church, Rocky, N.C. and St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Frostburg, Md., local American Red Cross board of directors, Douglas, Ariz., executive committee at Frostburg State University Foundation, Frostburg, MD.
Surviving are cousins, John A. Watson, Annville, Mary Miller, Lebanon, Theodore Watson, Auburn, Ala., Kate Schedler, Greenville, N.C., Mary Beth Frantz, Louisville, Ky., Alice Lynn Rufo, Canton, Ohio, Tom Frantz, Myerstown, Jeffrey Frantz, Cleona, Stephen Harris, Lebanon and Wilma Harris, Tallahassee, Florida.
Viewing will be on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 from 10 to 11 a.m. at Christman's Funeral Home, 226 Cumberland St., Lebanon. Funeral services will be on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville, with full military honors, following the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to:
Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church
Preservation Fund
119 N. 8th Street
Lebanon PA 17046
For more information, to order flowers, or to send messages of condolence, please visit www.christmansfuneralhome.com
Christman's Funeral Home, Inc. - Lebanon
226 Cumberland Street Lebanon, PA 17042
(717) 272-7431
Published in Lebanon Daily News on Feb. 6, 2015.