BILL FRACK, 1935-2014

Benefactor of BGSU had love of basketball

6/9/2014

FINDLAY — Memorial services have been set for the late Bill Frack, a longtime fan of Bowling Green State University basketball turned major benefactor.

Mr. Frack of Findlay, 79, died May 28. He had cancer.

He had no immediate survivors.

A celebration of life is to take place at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Kirkpatrick-Behnke Funeral Home in Findlay.

The basketball court at the Stroh Center at BGSU is named for Mr. Frack. A donation of his helped lead to the arena’s construction.

“I remember, when I was in eighth grade, my dad told me, ‘‍They have great basketball at Bowling Green University, and we’re going to go to some games,’ ” Mr. Frack told The Blade in 2011. “Just about every week a national power came here for games, and I was hooked — I was hooked in two minutes.”

In 2011, he promised $10 million to the men’s basketball program, which was the largest single gift to a basketball program in Mid-American Conference history. He announced in April that the endowment had reached $20 million.

Part of his endowment will generate about $675,000 a year for the men’s basketball program. A portion of the proceeds will generate a sustainable fund to support the homeless and victims of domestic violence in Hancock County.

A few weeks before Mr. Frack announced the growth in the endowment, he gave BGSU $700,000, which was used to hire the new men’s basketball coach, Chris Jans from Wichita State.

Mr. Frack told The Blade that he was able to make such donations by “managing my finances well.”

He was born Feb. 6, 1935, to Virginia and George Frack. He was an Army veteran, attended BGSU, and graduated from what is now the University of Findlay. He taught for a time in Hardin County.

Tributes are suggested to the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation in Findlay for deposit in the William D. Frack Donor Advised Fund.