Frank Nicholas "Sonny" Seres, Sr. was the Most Interesting Man in the World.

Dad was born January 7, 1938, in East St. Louis, IL, to Frank Henry Seres and Anna Bernadette Blazick Seres. He began many years of hardship as a little boy when his beloved mother died unexpectedly in 1947. He and his younger brother, Richard, lived for two difficult years in a Catholic orphanage.

A troubled teen, Dad ran away to Tulsa, OK, when he was 15. His father found him and they returned to St. Louis. As a young man, Dad began a colorful career path as a cartoon artist for a St. Louis newspaper and as a potato peeler/fryer in the early days of McDonalds (when fries were made fresh). He gladly gave up potato peeling, but he continued a long run of illustrating his own short stories and personalizing birthday cards for his kids and grandkids.

In 1955, at the age of 17, Dad began his career with the U.S. Air Force attached to radar squadrons. His first duty station was at Boron Air Station (AS), CA. During this time, he took leave to Illinois and hitchhiked the entire length of Route 66 to make it back to Boron AS on time. Other duty stations included Resolution Island in Canada; Pickstown Air Force Station (AFS), SD (1961-1967); Belleville AFS, IL (1967-1969); Chandler Air Force Base (AFB), MN (1969-1971); Rockville AS, Keflavik, Iceland (1971); Malmstrom AFB, MT (1972-1974); Wiley Barracks, Neu Ulm, Germany (1974-1977); and Caswell AFB, ME (1977-1978).

Dad retired from the USAF in 1978 and moved to Lawton, OK, where he worked a variety jobs: Automatic Alarm, A-Plus Office Machines, and Monroe Systems. He married the love of his life, Nancy Taylor, on March 14, 1987. They lived in Phoenix, AZ, Tucson, AZ, and Houston, TX, before returning to Lawton to live out their lives together. Dad and Nancy loved working for six years as caretakers of the Holy City in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. He also worked for Cosmetic Specialty Labs and Lawton Board of Realtors. For the last 11 years of our Dad's life, he was a courier for Eastside Pharmacy. Even though he was in his 80s, Dad loved working for Eastside, delivering medications to their customers—he considered it a sort of ministry. Helping people gave Dad so much joy.

Dad taught Sunday school at church for five years and taught home Bible Study with Nancy for 15 years. He loved driving his truck and planting flowers in the yard. He collected loud Hawaiian-print shirts, ugly fish collectibles, odd mechanical parts for things he planned to fix, and Peaky and outback hats. He loved meandering through the Wichita Mountains and the Arizona desert. He loved camping, eating, playing softball, watching WWII and old western movies, and listening to all kinds of music, particularly old-timey gospel. He was a talented singer and could whistle any tune. When we were kids, Dad entertained us by tap dancing in the kitchen and singing Dean Martin tunes while making his morning coffee.

Dad had a bottomless sense of humor, even when (especially when) times were hard. Despite his troubled childhood and young adulthood, he had a pocketful of pun zingers and original jokes, deftly delivered to unsuspecting audiences. He especially loved pranking us kids, his friends, and his coworkers.

We never doubted Dad's deep, enduring love for us—Frank, Angela, and Tony—and all our conversations with Dad ended with him telling us how proud he was of us. Our early years were often affected by Dad's painful past. In 1987, with Nancy's help, Jesus found Dad in his lowest place, redeemed him, and made him a new man. His relationships with us and everyone in his life grew stronger. His example of servant leadership influenced our work ethic, our desire to serve God and others, our outlook on what's really important in life, and he taught us to employ humor in every part of our lives to deal with adversity. We learned from Dad that God is faithful, in good times and bad.

Dad and Nancy also "adopted" many young people into their family. Some of Dad's happiest moments were walking "daughters" down the aisle to godly marriages and then holding their babies and watching them grow. His fatherly influence in the lives of people who knew him will linger for eternity.

Our Dad quietly ascended to heaven on Tuesday morning, December 6, 2023, following a brief illness. Until his last breath, Dad was kind to every person he met. He did not have an enemy anywhere. He was a good man, father, husband, and friend, and he was a good and faithful servant to Christ. His life was long and well-lived, overflowing with love and laughter. His family and friends will dearly miss him, but we rejoice in his healing and we know we will see him again, healthy and whole, tapdancing and singing in Heaven.

Dad was preceded in death by his father and mother. He is survived by loving and doting wife, Nancy Seres; brother, Richard Seres (four nieces and nephews); sister, Mary Lou Griffin (two nieces); son, Frank Seres Jr. (wife, Karen, and granddaughters Jessica, Jaclyn, Jordan, Karley, Kendal; great grandchildren Maya, Kai, Dodge, Carson); daughter, Angela DePriest (husband, Dan; granddaughter, Kate); son, Tony Seres (wife, Wendy; granddaughters Clara, Charlotte); and stepson, Tad Hanza.  He is also survived by sisters-in-law Pat Taylor and family and Judy Taylor and family.

Dad is also survived by his large "bonus" family—Ardina, Jacob, and Kyle McKee; Rian and C'nydra Kelly; Tally, Jaylin, Gwenyth, Cecilia, and Sage Tanner; Monique and Emmanuel Rodriguez; Mara and Ziva Abraham; Ellie, Sarah, and Zack Wright; Justine Piatt; everyone at Ann's Country Kitchen, Wayne's Westside Drive-in, and Eastside Pharmacy.

Dad and Nancy had Bible study every morning, during which time they prayed for every member of their family and extended family. He took the time to lift every name up to God for guidance and protection.

A memorial service for our Dad, Frank Seres, Sr., will be held Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 2:00 pm, at Becker-Rabon Funeral Home, 1502 NW Fort Sill Blvd, Lawton, OK. A celebration of life and laughter will follow at McAlister's Deli, 2910 NW Cache Rd, 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

In Lieu of flowers and other gifts, please donate to Tunnels to Towers Foundation in Dad's name. https://t2t.org/