Buesseler, Frank Raphael of Wilmington, NC passed away Friday, July 26, 2013. Frank is survived by his wife, Catherine; his sisters, Marguerite Dahmen of Pierz, MN and Virginia Hoheisel (Ted) of Baxter, MN; and brother, Melvin Buesseler (Annette) of Hillman, MN. He had five children, Pat Daily (Dar) of Plymouth, MN; Peter Buesseler (Ginny) of Bemidji, MN; John Buesseler (Jabke) of North Plains, OR; Ken Buesseler (Wendi) of Falmouth, MA; and Roni Higgins (Brian) of Maple Grove, MN. He also leaves 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. Frank was born March 24th, 1930 on a farm near Hillman, MN. At the age of 17, he left his small, rural hometown in central MN to attend the Coast Guard Academy in Niantic, CT. There he fell in love with a beautiful nursing student, Catherine Coffey with whom he recently celebrated 60 years of marriage. After graduating from the Academy, Frank was assigned as an Ensign on buoy tenders in New York City and Portsmouth Virginia, and later as Lieutenant at the Coast Guard Loran station in Ulithi - a small island in the equatorial Pacific. After completing his service he and Catherine moved to Minneapolis, MN to start a career with Honeywell Inc. Over the next 36 years Frank worked up the company's ranks from mechanical engineer, to supervisor, manager, and eventually retiring in 1989 as a vice-president in Honeywell's international division. His career took Frank, Catherine, and their family to southern California (twice), the Netherlands (twice), Germany, and back and forth to Minnesota in between. Frank and Catherine always dreamed of retiring on the east coast and moved to Hampstead, North Carolina in 1990. Here he was active in the American Legion and The Society of Forty and Eight where he helped establish an endowed scholarship for registered nurses at Cape Fear Community College. He was also one of the founding members of the Cape Fear Woodcarvers at Poplar Grove Plantation. He was very proud of the growth and success of this organization - especially the diversity of carvers who joined and the friendships he made with so many of them. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Cape Fear Cape Community College - "Forty and Eight Scholarship", 411 N Front St Wilmington, NC 28401. Online condolences may be sent to the family at andrewsmortuary.com