Sharna and Irvin Frank were native Oklahomans. Sharna Newman Frank (1928-2007) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Jay and Betty Newman. Irvin Edward Frank (1929-2008), known as Irv to his friends, was born in Erick, Oklahoma to Charles and Eunice Frank. Irv’s grandfather, Leo Meyer was Oklahoma’s first Secretary of State (1907-1911) and State Auditor (1911-1913).

Sharna and Irv married in 1949 and subsequently both graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Irv earned a masters in business administration from New York University and served in the United States Air Force before beginning his long and successful business career.

Throughout Sharna and Irv Frank’s marriage of almost 60 years, they generously supported and were involved in numerous civic, cultural and social welfare organizations. Their extensive and diverse involvement was local and national in scope. Irv Frank was a distinguished community leader and statesman within the Tulsa and national Jewish communities. His noteworthy accomplishments include his work toward the establishment of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust in the 1970s, and he was a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Irv served as chairman of the Center for Learning and Leadership in New York City and vice-chairman of the National United Jewish Appeal. He also served as president of many local Jewish organizations including Temple Israel and the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, where he was the youngest president ever elected.