Obituary of Krzysztof Stanislaw Frankowski

Krzysztof Stanislaw Frankowski, age 89, died peacefully on Sunday evening, August 22 after suffering a massive stroke 9 days earlier. He is survived by the family he loved and who loved him: wife Elaine, sons Michael (Aerine) Caerwyn and Daniel (Melissa) Frankowski, grandsons Quinn, Neal and Aiden Caerwyn, nieces Barbara and Anetta, cousins Barbara and Wojciech, and his cat Onyx.

Krzysztof was born on July 25, 1932 in Bolimów, Poland, immigrated to Israel in 1958 and to Minnesota in 1965 where he was a founding member of the University of Minnesota Computer Science Department. He retired from the University as Professor Emeritus. After retiring, he continued to teach occasionally at the University of Łódź as an adjunct, turning one honors class into a forthcoming book, "In the Footsteps of Programming Teachers."

He collaborated with two strong researchers. With Chaim Pekeris, he studied the mathematics of the physical world, including the wave functions of helium, and Dirac's equation in Kerr-Newman geometry. With Milton Sobel, he investigated statistical functions, such as Dirichlet integrals and distributions.

Kris’s many enthusiasms included his sons, his music, mathematics, tournament bridge, animals, foreign travel, tomatoes, and chocolate. He grew up in Poland where he completed degrees in music and mathematics, immigrated to Israel where he completed his Ph.D. in applied mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, finally arrived in the U.S. where he taught in the University of Minnesota’s Computer Science Department for over 30 years. He played the piano and led choirs, first in Israel and then in the U. S. proudly leading the Topola Choir of Minneapolis.

He called his wife "motek" (hebrew for sweetheart), and his sons, his "oaks" when they were young. He thought one goal in life was to have fun, and he certainly did his best.

The family will hold a Celebration of Life when the covid-delta spike is over and people can come together.