Frank Ratermann Jr. of New Orleans died on May 25th at West Jefferson Hospital after a long illness. He was 70 years old.

Frank was born in Falls Church, Virginia, the youngest son of Ed and Martha Ratermann. At the age of eleven his family relocated to India, where his father served in the diplomatic corps. These formative years gave Frank an open appreciation of other people and cultures, along with an improvisational flair which he carried the rest of his life. He used the same flair to lead the sales department at television station WDSU in New Orleans for 24 years, spending 44 years in television sales altogether.

A lifelong aficionado of World War II history, Frank’s deep interest led him to work closely with his team at WDSU and the World War II Museum to get much needed publicity for the building in progress. Over the years both the staff at WDSU and his companion museum volunteers became not just friends but also family. Earlier this year Frank was recognized for volunteering over 10,000 hours at the museum. He often said that the family he built at WDSU, starting in 1995, was one of his proudest accomplishments.

Prior to WDSU, Frank built out sales markets for stations in Tampa, Harrisburg, and Baltimore before settling in New Orleans. Frank is survived by his daughter Patty; his brother Ben and sister-in-law Leslie; and his sister Vicky.

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