Frank Edward Wetzel

Frank Edward Wetzel of Chestertown died on Friday, February 2, 2001 at the Kent-Queen Anne Hospital in Chestertown. He was 80. Born in Philadelphia, PA on December 20, 1920, he was the son of the late Thomas Andrew and Mabel Shade Wetzel. He spent his formative years in Manoa, PA and, after completing public school at age 17, he attended Haverford School in Haverford, PA. While attending Haverford School and during his years at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance, he crewed on an 8-man shell. He was also an outstanding member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. While in college, he took Civilian Pilot Training and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. Following his graduation in 1943, he began active duty with the U.S. Army Air Force serving for three years as a cryptographer with Top Secret clearance in Brazil and the Assention Island. After the war, he married his wife of 45 years, the former Nancy Sheaffer, and then started a long successful career in insurance. In 1965, he went to work for the American Automobile Association in Washington, D.C. where he reorganized the insurance department and was instrumental in organizing the American Automobile Association Life Insurance Company. After his retirement in 1983, he and his wife moved to Oxford. While residing in Oxford for 18 years, he was a member of the vestry and past Junior Warden at the Church of the Holy Trinity, a volunteer and past President of the Oxford Museum, and served as a Chairman on the Election Committee for the Town of Oxford. He was also an avid boater who loved to cruise the many tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, T. Andrew Wetzel, II and his wife Janine of Church Hill; a step-daughter, Margaret Ann Shea Hilton and her husband Thomas of Ithaca, NY; a step-son, Charles Robert Shea and his wife Nancy of Colorado Springs, CO; and four grandchildren, Brook, Christopher, Lindsey, and Bobby. Memorial services will be held at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford on Tuesday, February 6, 2001 at 11:00 AM. Inurnment in the church columbarium wall will follow. Memorial contributions may be made to the Church of the Holy Trinity, P.O. Box 387, Oxford, MD 21654.