Frank Marshall Oakley Jr.'s Obituary
Oakley, Jr., Frank Marshall - Age 83. Departed peacefully at home April 2, 2009 following a brief illness. He is survived by devoted wife of 43 years, Jeanie Bracey Oakley. Also survived by two sons, Frank Oakley, III of Bradenton, FL; Rod (Joyce) Oakley of Ridgetop, TN; stepchildren Diane (Rod) Weaver and Mark (Kay) Hughes and grandson, Dustin Weaver. A World War II veteran and former police officer in his native city of Birmingham, AL, Frank changed careers in 1961 and began his endless love affair with Nashville and the Country Music industry. Hired by the Mary Carter Paint Company, his role was to attract country music's biggest stars to appear in the company's commercials. It was the perfect match of man and job. Known as "Friendly Frank" among his friends, he recruited and worked with the likes of Jim Reeves, Faron Young, Marty Robbins and many others. These successes led to many other tightknit bonds within the country music industry, most notably, his long standing friendship and working relationship with Willie Nelson. In 1979, Frank and wife Jeanie, joined Willie in opening the "Willie Nelson and Family General Store" which celebrates its 30th anniversary on July 4th, 2009. Few people knew, or cared more, about keeping the original spirit of country music alive and well while not allowing the industry pioneers to be forgotten. As an author, he captured and documented many of these great stories in his recent book, "The Nashville Sidekick". rank was a long time member of the AFTRA and R.O.P.E. organizations. Sadly, much of this history is now gone and the industry has lost a great fan. Funeral service at 1 p.m. Monday, April 6 at Spring Hill Funeral Home 5110 Gallatin Road, Rev. Bud Russell officiating. Entombment to follow. Visitation will be Sunday, April 5 from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m.
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