Frank L. Durkee II ’54

Frank Durkee died March 25, 2011, from complications of a stroke.  

Born in Ouray, Colo., he graduated from Webster Groves High School in St. Louis. At Princeton he majored in history and served on many campus committees. After graduation, he served three years in the Army in its intelligence branch.  

Frank attended the Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1959. He worked as an assistant priest in several Washington and Georgetown churches, among them St. Stephen’s and Incarnation. As a result of this work, he became involved with various underserved communities in the D.C. area. This in turn led to his involvement in government and nongovernmental agencies, including the National Urban Coalition, which dealt with anti-poverty programs.

Frank moved to Ouray in 1989 and was appointed rector at St. Andrew’s in Sedona, Ariz. He served on the Ouray city council, and served as a rector on the Caribbean islands of Nevis and St. Kitts and in Buena Vista, Colo. Frank was not a conventional priest, and his thought-provoking sermons attracted a number of parishioners with whom he remained in contact until his death.  

The class proudly remembers Frank’s work and sends condolences to his wife, Sheila; and their three children, Sean, Lyle, and Bryanna.