Francis Edward (Frank) Polanski was welcomed into the world on September 29, 1939, by his loving mother and father, Clara Irene Pawinski Polanski and Francis C. Polanski, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  His mother taught him to read, to be kind, and to stick up for himself as necessary.   His father, a tool-and-die designer, built their family's house in the late 1940s.  Frank attended kindergarten and elementary school at St. Casimir's Catholic Church, where he was an altar boy and later directed the choir in the Gregorian Chant of the time.  As a youngster he insisted on going on his own to school via public transportation, changing buses according to the system color code.

He subsequently chose public schools, attending Washington Road Junior High.  He studied piano with Marjorie Morrow, beginning at his own initiative around age 10, having fallen in love with the piano sound and the classical music he heard on the radio from Chicago. In his teens he accompanied the Snap-On Male Chorus, a company organization directed by Mrs. Morrow for the Snap-On Tool Company.  He came in second in the Chicagoland Music Festival and graduated from Mary D. Bradford High School in the Class of 1957.

He rode his bicycle (even in an unexpected airborne trip over Washington Bowl bicycle race track in Kenosha, pedaling all the while and landing successfully, continuing to pedal as fast as he could.)  He worked for the parks department one summer, explored the rocky shores of Lake Michigan, and rocked his family's aluminum canoe in its waters with friends.  His core inner value system was shaped in this environment and served him well all his life.

He was graduated from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in 1961 with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano and received his Master of Music Degree in piano from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1963.  His artist piano professors included Orazio Frugoni at Eastman and György Sandor at Michigan.  At Michigan he took courses with Kurt Pickut in piano technology, learning to tune pianos and adjust the many parts of the piano action.

He and fellow graduate piano student Sandra Paschal of Grenada, Mississippi, were married in Ann Arbor on June 7, 1963, in the Washtenaw Avenue Presbyterian Church. Later that year Frank entered the U. S. Army on the six-month plan, finishing basic training at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, where he took to the warmer climate, learned a few things about navigating "the system," processed recruits since he was a capable typist, and thrived on the outdoor aspects.

Following his army duty Frank and Sandra moved to Kenosha, where he taught music in an elementary parochial school though by this time he had declared himself a Protestant in the broader sense, started a piano studio in the music room of Everetta McQuestion's home, and developed a small clientele through tuning and adjusting pianos. He and Sandra also performed locally and participated in the community through music.

The Polanskis moved to Jackson, Mississippi, in September, 1965, when Frank was appointed to the music faculty of Millsaps College, filling in for one remaining year of piano teacher Jonathon Sweat's doctoral sabbatical. That year turned into thirty years at Millsaps, where he performed, taught piano and music theory, and developed and taught courses including Music Literature, an interdisciplinary upper-level music theory course, a History of Jazz course, and Directed Studies in Twentieth-Century Music and Piano Pedagogy.  In 1967-68 he enrolled at Millsaps, pursuing studies in philosophy, psychology, and political science.  He recorded most of the recitals presented by the Music Department.

He and Sandra performed extensively as a two-piano team locally, across the state, and beyond, including two recitals on The Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series and three concerto engagements with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Colman Pearce.  They were the two-piano "orchestra" for a number of musicals by the Millsaps Players directed by Lance Goss and for Mississippi Opera Theater productions.  In 1981 they honored then Governor and Mrs. William Winter with a recital at Millsaps as a feature of Opera Festival of the South They were heard on Mississippi Concert Hall over Public Radio in Mississippi, now MPB Radio.  Memorable solo appearances included the benefit concert by local musicians for the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra featuring the Horowitz Steinway.  In 1982 they participated in the Classical Music Seminar in Eisenstadt, Austria, performing in solo master classes and also a duo master class with Mozart scholar pianist Paul Badura-Skoda.

For many years Frank volunteered as a guest artist teacher in the piano division of the Music Department of the Academic and Performing Arts Complex in the Jackson Public Schools.  In 1995 he was recognized by Mississippi Music Teachers Association for thirty years of membership.  He became an Active Member of the Chaminade Club of Jackson more recently when after more than a hundred years the club amended its constitution to include men as members.  He was a central part of the Music with Chaminade outreach programs at Campbell Cove beginning in 2014 and later also at The Orchard Retirement Center.

In the final ten weeks of his life, he was first at St. Dominic's Hospital and then at Lakeland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in treatment and therapy toward recovery from the consequences of a bacterial infection in his bloodstream.  He responded well to the medical care and therapy with good cheer and his trademark sense of humor until his sudden cardiac death on June 25, 2023.

Throughout his life Frank was an avid reader and deep thinker, a serious and attentive listener, a creative problem-solver with an open, organic mind, a guiding star laser-like sense of the genuine (and conversely the phony), and a lover of art, science, and nature.  He relished a robust cup of espresso and savored good food.  He liked nothing more than being helpful in quiet, unobtrusive, often unseen ways.  He brightened conversations with his disarming wit and his wealth of knowledge and interest in a variety of subjects.  His taste in music was eclectic, centering around Twentieth-Century music. He did not like mowing grass, though he did his part, nor did he like house painting, though he happily did all the peripheral tasks involved.  Being prepared was part of his way of life.  He liked to cook.  He and Sandra loved to walk and to canoe on the reservoir and Pelahatchie Bay.  For many years Frank was a jogger -- even in the snow, and was more than once offered a ride in those early days when joggers were not the norm on Jackson streets.  His unique presence is missed and gratefully remembered, emanating as it did from his generously balanced heart and mind.

He is survived by his wife Sandra, who offers her appreciation to the St.Dominic's Hospital staff for superb treatment and care and to the Lakeland Rehab staff for their gentle persistence in his best efforts to return home.  Frank is also survived by several cousins.

A memorial service for him will be held at Yates Chapel in the Christian Center on the Millsaps College campus on Monday, July 10, with visitation starting at 2:00 and service at 3:00, with reception to follow.  Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home (Flowood) is in charge of arrangements.

For gifts in memory of Frank, please consider Millsaps College, the music or arts organization of your choice, or the charity of your choice.  Millsaps donations will be welcomed at Millsaps College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 1701 N. State Street, Jackson, Mississippi 39210.

Requiescat in pace, Frank Polanski. Rest in peace.