Mourning the passing of David Frank [News]

There’s never an easy way to share the news of the loss of a friend. On June 2, David Frank passed away after an unexpected medical emergency, leaving us shocked and heartbroken. David was not only a marvelously talented LEGO builder whose work we’ve featured many times, but also a personal friend to several of us here at TBB here in the Seattle area. David leaves behind his wife and three children.

No words can ever do justice to someone’s life, but if there’s one word that anyone who met David would use to describe him, it’s “kind.” Although he had the physique of a bodybuilder, David was softspoken and had one of those personalities that sticks in your mind as modest, utterly sincere, and simply filled with the child-like joy of sharing a hobby. I first met David about 10 years ago in the BrickCon exhibition hall when he walked in to start setting up one of his castle creations. We struck up a conversation as he started to unpack his boxes, and he told me he was still new to building his own creations rather than sets, and not to expect much of his builds. He then proceeded to set up what was not only the biggest LEGO castle I’d ever seen in person, but also incredibly detailed, a sprawling layout filled with dragons and knights. David’s building skills only grew from there, and he frequently built massive dioramas of locations from his wife Claire’s novels along with other things he was passionate about, like Starcraft. Many LUG meetings and hangouts later we even discussed auditioning for LEGO Masters as a team. But as incredible as David’s LEGO skills were, it was never his priority. David’s family always came first, and he loved sharing the company of friends even more than he loved building. David, you will be sorely missed.

See more of David’s creations that we’ve featured on TBB, or check out his flickr.

6 comments on “Mourning the passing of David Frank [News]

  1. Lino

    I didn’t know David very well but what I do know is he was always kind, always helpful and never without a smile. My heart goes out to his family. He will be missed dearly.

  2. Michael Wolf

    I had talked with David but was never introduced. He had some amazing builds. It’s shocking to learn someone so young and vital is gone.

  3. Jordan Perry

    I’m still reeling from this one, and I’m sure will be for a long time.

    David was one of my good “Lego Buddies”, as we both shared a love of fantasy/castle and both came out of our dark age around the same time. We also bonded over army-building. I remember his giant brick-built dragon mount was one of the first builds I ever saw at “show and tell” during a SeaLUG meeting. I immediately knew that he was going to become a talented builder.

    We collaborated both through ArchLUG and also did our own collabs with just the two of us. In fact, the photo used from this story is from our first collab at BrickCon 2012 (you can see me hanging out with his son behind the castle in the photo). He was one of the people I always looked forward to hanging out with during conventions, and he always had some new creative idea that he’d be bubbling about all weekend. His enthusiasm for his ideas was infectious.

    David also generously hosted the online forum “Merlin’s Beard” when the RPG project I was running outgrew Classic Castle’s forum and needed a new space, despite the fact that he never really participated in the RPG himself. He saw a need, and he filled it. That was how David lived his life. Always willing to help out others.

    David was one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve ever met. He loved his family and never missed a chance to gush about his kids, or his wife Claire’s career as an author. He went big with everything he did (including his bicep workouts!). He always had a smile on his face and would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.

    Rest in peace, buddy. You will be (and are already) sorely missed.

  4. MaffyD

    I remember seeing the awesome Rivendell build he did with Alice Finch and being amazed at the size and skill and attention to detail. Thoughts are with his family. So sad.

  5. Bruce

    Very sad to see this news. Fraslund (the nickname he used at Classic-Castle and probably other LEGO forums) was a great guy. I wish I’d gotten the chance to meet him IRL.

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