Frank Wilkinson (left) enjoying conversation with his wife, Frances (middle), and past Minneapolis Park Board Superintendent, Jayne Miller (right).

Earlier this year, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board announced the creation of a first-of-its-kind endowment for the Minneapolis parks that will help provide for the ongoing care and maintenance of the city’s most valuable natural resources. One of the most passionate advocates for establishing endowments as a bedrock for long-term sustainability was Frank Smith Wilkinson, Jr., a longtime board member of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, who passed away in July. 

“Frank was a visionary,” says Jennifer Downham, MPF’s Chief Development Officer. “He was the first person to really advocate for MPF to establish an endowment. He believed so fiercely in finding ways to support the parks for generations to come.” A reinsurance executive who taught the importance of philanthropy and community engagement to younger colleagues, Wilkinson spent more than 50 years supporting cultural and environmental causes, serving on the board of Walker Art Center, and helping to launch Project Environment, now the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, to advocate for environmental laws at the Capitol. A life-long lover of both neighborhood and national parks, Wilkinson joined the Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s board of directors in 2015. During his tenure, his support enabled the nonprofit to secure more than $18 million to support the transformation of the Mississippi riverfront through the new Water Works Park and Pavilion and launch the Parks Foundation first ever endowment fund.

“When I first joined the board in 2017, I made a point of sitting next to Frank at meetings because of his knowledge and kindness,” says Interim Executive Director Jocelyn Hale, a former Minneapolis Parks Foundation board member. “Frank loved our parks and worked hard to support them. His leadership exemplified the best board members have to offer.” The staff and board of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation extend our heartfelt sympathies to Wilkinson’s family and friends. Minnesota’s natural places and Minneapolis’s neighborhood parks have benefited and will continue to benefit greatly from his life’s work.