Frank Douglas Koran, 90, of Tifton and St. Simons Island, passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by his family, on November 9, 2013.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 23, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Frank was born in Youngstown, Ohio to Hungarian immigrants, Mary Kayati and Frank Koran from Budapest on July 26, 1923. One of his earliest jobs was delivering newspapers on many snowy mornings during the Great Depression. His escape was the Boy Scouts, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. As a teenager, he took a summer job at an aluminum extruding plant in Youngstown, under the guidance of William L. Bonnell, which began his 40-year career in the aluminum business. He graduated from South High School in Youngstown in 1941. He served in the U.S. Navy in 1943. In 1947, he graduated from Ohio State University, with honors, with a BS degree in education and a major in Engineering Drawing. He was a Kappa Phi Kappa and Epsilon Pi Tau. He enjoyed college football and was a loyal Buckeye and Coach Woody Hayes fan throughout his life.
He was married to the late Willa Lee “Bill” Church of Youngstown, Ohio and they enjoyed 61 years of marriage, until her death on May 12, 2011.
Frank taught Engineering Drawing at Ohio State University for one year, then joined Saramar Aluminum Corporation in Warren, Ohio and served as Plant Manager from 1953-1956. He rejoined his life mentor, Bill Bonnell, and moved his family to Newnan in 1956 to construct an extrusion plant, becoming Vice President of Manufacturing with William L. Bonnell Company until 1965. Not long after Mr. Bonnell’s death, Frank was approached by Alcoa and offered the opportunity to establish Tifton Aluminum in Tifton. Frank took the reins and never looked back. Remaining autonomous to operate at free will, Frank and his loyal employees created a $140 million enterprise, employing 650 people and was the most profitable company within Alcoa, until his retirement in 1987. Frank’s life touched so many other lives and he made everyone count.
After retirement, Frank and Bill were able to travel the world and spent summers at their family cottage on Lake Erie in Ashtabula, Ohio. But Frank was never content with retirement, because work was not something Frank did; it was what Frank was….
His community involvement through the years was remarkable and his involvement and interest never waned.
Frank was past president of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce; he was president and fund drive chairman of the United Way; President of the Tifton Rotary Club; board member of the ABAC College Foundation and the Hospital Board. He filled almost every post in Boy Scouting, including being named chairman of the Chehaw Council, serving scouts throughout Southwest Georgia, and was awarded Scouting’s highest award, the Silver Beaver. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Tifton, an avid supported of the Tift County Blue Devils, under the leadersbhip of legendary Coach Gene Brodie.
Frank was predeceased by his wife, his parents and his sisters, Waldean Thorndale and Dorothy Pezzuto.
He is survived by his four sons, Walter Koran (Joan Lewis) of St. Simons Island, Bill Koran (Janna Bush) of Port St. Joe, Florida, David Koran (Gay Turner Koran) of Newnan and Jon Koran (Tammie Ross Koran) of Tifton; and his grandchildren, Kansas and Jeffrey Dowdy, Samantha, Will and Katherine Koran and several nieces and nephews.
The family wishes to thank Heartland Hospice for their loving care and to express their eternal gratitude to Sherrie Sims for seven years of extraordinary assistance to the Koran family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the building fund of the new gymnasium of Tiftarea Academy, P. O. Box 10, Chula, GA 31733.