2026 Obit: San Francisco's Ray Frank (DADGBE)

Subject: Obit: San Francisco's Ray Frank
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Jan 26 - 03:37 PM

I met Ray Frank through the San Francisco Folk Music Club maybe thirty years ago. He took me under his wing, and treated me like I was something special. In singarounds, he'd often introduce a song by saying, "Here's a song I think Joe will like."
Ray got an early start in music, shipping records for Folk-Legacy Records. Sandy Paton gave Ray a fretless Frank Proffitt banjo that was broken, and told Ray he could keep the banjo if he could fix it. Ray rebuilt that banjo - twice. He prized that banjo all his life. It was a joy to listen to Ray play the guitar or banjo. He was just so darn good at it.
Ray was a chiropractor in Petaluma, California. Clients would sometimes pay Ray in chickens or produce if they couldn't afford to pay their bill. Eventually, the strenuous work of chiropractic hurt him so bad he couldn't play the guitar anymore. He gave up chiropractic and kept on playing guitar. He was much in demand as an accompanist of recordings by California folk musicians.
Rail was in pain much of his life, but he kept on keepin' on. May he rest in peace.

Here's the notice his wife Jane McKendry posted on Facebook:

Ray Frank died comfortably on Sunday afternoon, 1/11/2026. He had one of his daughters holding each hand, me and my daughter and nephew standing around, and a very dear friend playing his favorite banjo. We softly sang “Union Maid” as he passed.
It don’t get no better than that! And now he’s finally out of a lifetime of pain.

Here's an example of Ray's guitar work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlRD_dD9Gdg

And here's Ray on "Chickadee" with Mudlark (Katie Henry, Laura Sandage, and Ray):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af-4Gxz_q5M

I'll miss you, Ray.

-Joe Offer-

P.S. Ray was DADGBE (click) on Mudcat.