Doris "Dodi" Frankel
(June 1, 1920 - March 16, 2011)

Inventor, Entrepreneur, Innkeeper, Restaurateur, Graphic Designer, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, First Lady (wife of four-term mayor of Huntington, West Virginia), Community Leader, Philanthropist, Speaker, Thespian, Pianist, Composer, Photographer, Equestrian, Real Estate Broker—but a few of the incarnations of Doris "Dodi" Frankel. To those who had the privilege of knowing her, she was an ever gracious and sophisticated hostess, equally dedicated to family and friends, an indefatigable civic leader, a savvy businesswoman with an unparalleled work ethic and a positive, patient and generous spirit—an inspiration to all.

Born Doris Nachamson in Kinston, North Carolina in 1920, she was the youngest of eight girls (followed by a baby boy). Dodi attended the Women's College of the University of North Carolina before moving to New York with her mother and two sisters. She enrolled at New York University, majoring in music and mathematics. It was there that she met Harold Lawrence Frankel, her future husband, who proposed to her at the edge of Central Park on a snowy afternoon. The next year, she began a new life in Huntington. While raising two small children, Dodi worked alongside her husband through the ‘40s and ‘50s, managing and operating the family department and appliance stores, making regular trips to New York as a buyer. Through the years Dodi and Harold quietly assisted many underprivileged families–-children clothed, necessities given, toys provided.

Dodi still found time to be active in organizational and civic affairs, serving as President of the Huntington chapter of Hadassah (three terms) and President of the Temple Sisterhood. As a member of the Board of Directors of the Marshall University Artists Series, she welcomed and entertained many notable celebrities, including General Moshe Dayan, Helen Hayes and Van Cliburn.

When horses and horse shows took center stage in her family’s life in the ‘50s, she became a champion, placing first in many horse shows (including the Ladies Fine Harness Championship at Madison Square Garden).

When Dodi and Harold opened their first of three Holiday Inns, she shared in the overall management of the Inn, and ran the food and beverage operation, including the restaurant, the banquet business, and the renowned Makiki supper club. The Route 60 Inn became one of the most successful Holiday Inns worldwide. In 1972 Dodi’s business acumen and way with people earned her recognition as one of the top ten Food and Beverage Directors in the Holiday Inn system globally.

When Dodi and Harold moved to Florida in 1982, she became a real estate broker. Always with an active and inventive mind, and extraordinarily gifted at finding solutions, she began to pursue one of her true passions-- inventing. She designed and patented the "Lazy Shoezan" shoe rack, successfully pitched it to the Home Shopping Network, and presented it on-air herself-- selling out twice within minutes.

After losing her beloved husband Harold, Dodi returned to New York City where her daughter Linda and granddaughter Alexis reside. Her new home was within blocks of where she lived with her mother and three sisters on Central Park West in 1939, and near where Harold proposed to her across from the Plaza Hotel in 1940. Computer literate for more than thirty years, she especially enjoyed staying in touch with family and friends everywhere. She could often be seen out on the town at various musical, dance and theater performances, exhibiting her trademark joie de vivre that left in disbelief at her nearly 91 years of age. She was such an example of patience, grace, her own special southern charm, wit, and optimism.

Dodi is survived by her sister, Mary Wynn, her brother, William Naxon, her daughter Linda E. Frankel, son Alan H. Frankel, granddaughters Shaina J. Jensen and Alexis H. Frankel, and grandson A. Courtenay Craig, and dozens of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends of all ages. She died peacefully of natural causes with her family at her side.

Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Monday at B’nai Sholom Congregation by Rabbi David E. Wucher. Interment will follow in the B’nai Israel Section of Spring Hill Cemetery. Friends may call Monday 1:30 until service time at the Temple. The family would appreciate contributions to celebrate Dodi's life to the Dorothy Polan Memorial Landscape Fund at B'nai Sholom Congregation.