Frank Edward Baxter, a 33-year resident of Pacific Palisades, passed away on July 15 of ALS.
Frank was born in Auburn, California, November 20, 1936, to Erwin and Alice Byrne Baxter. He attended grades one to eight in Grass Valley, California.
After graduating from Corning High School in 1954, he enlisted and spent four years in the Air Force, “flying a typewriter in Guam.” Of the many valuable lessons he said he learned was how bureaucracies work.
Once back in the United States, he attended Sacramento State University, before transferring to UC Berkeley. Frank graduated in 1961 with honors with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
While at Berkeley he met Kathrine Stacey, a student at Mills College in Oakland. They were married in 1962 in Manhattan, Kansas.
Frank started his professional career at the Bank of California in San Francisco, before going to work for JS Strauss, a pioneer in over-the-counter stock trading.
He was transferred to New York, with Kathy and a newborn daughter. The family lived in Boonton, New Jersey, which meant Frank took a train and a ferry to get to work in Manhattan.
While on the East Coast, the couple welcomed two more children. In 1969, the family returned to California, first to Corte Madera and then Lafayette.
In 1974, Frank began working for Jefferies and Company, which was based in New York, with offices in London and Los Angeles. In 1986, he took over as the chairman and CEO and started the Investment Technology Group.
The Baxters moved to Palisades in 1992. He retired from Jefferies in 2001.
The people of Los Angeles have benefited in many ways by Frank’s work. The couple joined another couple in “adopting” a class of 60 sixth-graders for the “I Have a Dream Foundation.” The aim was to motivate and empower children from low-income groups to reach their education and career goals. The couple worked with children from 1987 to 1992.
He was also the chairman of the board of Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools and After-School All Stars, a group that has given thousands of students a better future than they might have had otherwise.
He was chairman of the board of the Los Angeles Opera and was a life trustee. Frank was chairman of the executive committee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and worked hard on planning the expansion that is currently underway. He was on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution. Frank was also a trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation.
He worked hard for the schools of the Diocese, particular St Monica Preparatory. Frank worked tirelessly on these and other projects—always working with groups that had programming for children.
From 2006 to 2009 Frank was the United States Ambassador to the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, appointed by President George W. Bush. His smile and generosity of spirit made him a favorite in that country. He loved Uruguay and they loved him. It was one of the high points in life for the couple.
Everywhere he went, and in everything he did, Frank was kind, generous and inventive. His big smile led the way.
He mentored many people and drew others into wanting to help others. Although ideating and putting ideas into reality were his favorite pursuits, he also loved to ski and to run.
Frank ran his first marathon when he was 50 and would go on to run about 40 more. He was 83 when he ran the last one, which he ran with Students Run LA.
He taught all six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren to ski. Frank climbed Mt. Rainier and Mt. Kilimanjaro. He walked the Inca Trail. Frank was 72 when he swam in the Antarctic Ocean with Uruguayan scientists.
Frank loved and cared for his family and was dearly loved by them. He always introduced Kathy as “The Love of My Life.” He also cared for his five younger siblings and for Kathy’s five younger siblings, as well as both sets of parents.
He is survived by his wife, Kathrine, his children: Stacey Bell, Matthew Baxter and Keath Silva; his grandchildren: Vanessa Bell, Nicholas Bell, Joseph Baxter V, Sid Baxter, Theresa Baxter-McGraw and Matoska Silva. He is also survived by his great-grandchildren: Isabella Hernandez, and Rose and Alex Rodriguez, two sisters, Genevieve Dunn and Mary Baxter-Simmons (Rod Simmons), and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and brothers- and sisters-in-law.
Frank’s service took place on Saturday, August 9, at Saint Monica’s Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alliance for College Ready Public Schools or to ALS Research (at the ALS Association).
