Lester Douglas "Sonny" Frank was born to Libbie (Heiden) and Lester Herman Frank on December 14, 1935. He graduated from Ida High School in 1954 and completed an agricultural short course at Michigan State University in 1955.

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1960, Sonny married Mary Louella Taylor at Zion Lutheran Church in Ottawa Lake, Michigan on February 16, 1963. They had a son and a daughter.

Sonny worked at Knapp Motors in Blissfield, Michigan as the Auto Parts Manager.

On March 25, 2018, Sonny died while chopping wood at his home in Petersburg, Michigan. He was 82 years old.