Frank Alan Gummelt

Frank Alan Gummelt, 73, of Lake Whitney, lost his battle with cancer on February 7, 2021. He fought until the very end and passed away peacefully at home.

We will honor and celebrate Frank’s life with a memorial service at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, February 13, 2021 at First Baptist Church Clifton. 

Frank was born in Gatesville on August 18, 1947 to Edith (Irene) Brown Gummelt and Luther James (LJ) Gummelt.

He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Randy and sister Cheryl.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Susan Gummelt; brother Larry and wife Donna; daughter, Ginger and husband Carlos; daughter, Lindsay; son Cody and wife Allison; grandchildren Charlie and Emma (papaw’s “M&M”); grand puppies Zooee, Teddy and Rupert; and of course, his best friend and beloved puppy dog Beedoo.

Frank graduated from Clifton High School in 1965 and joined the Air Force shortly after graduation. While in the Air Force, he was trained specifically in handling weapons. He completed basic training in San Antonio and technical training in Denver, Colorado. He received on-the-job training loading aircraft weaponry at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. After training, he was deployed to South East Asia for two years and then Bentwaters in England for four years. During this time, he was required to travel to many others places such as the Netherland, Spain, Italy and Greece for Temporary Duty Assignments (TDA).  He has been quoted saying he entered into the Air Force with a rank “lower than dirt” but achieved the ranking of Staff Sargent before being honorably discharged after seven years of service.

After returning to the states, he settled in the Waco area and worked as a truck driver for 30 years before retiring to his “Happy Place,” Lake Whitney.

Frank loved the lake all his life (specifically Lake Whitney). When he retired to his hill at Lake Whitney, he loved entertaining people and having a good time. Frank loved his children and grandchildren so much. He was very proud of each one of them and never missed an opportunity to support them. He and his brothers had a passion for remodeling cars and during his retirement, they helped him rebuilt a ’56 Ford Fairlane Victoria two door hard top and a ’71 Chevrolet Corvette convertible.

Frank requested to be cremated and spread on his hill, where he will always be, “The king of his hill.”

Frank will FOREVER be in our thoughts everyday as we go through life.  We will find ourselves saying, “What Would Frank Do.”

The family would like to give a special thanks to Amber Gardner with Baylor Scott and White Hospice.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7