Frank Wilberding is one of six children born and raised in Grosse Pointe. He attended St. Paul and then Austin High School before going to Notre Dame.
In his 20s, Frank struggled with different jobs, including one where he repossessed phones for AT&T. He eventually stumbled into a career in advertising, working at J. Walter Thompson and Ross Roy for 20 years. He found success in media planning and buying.
Frank is married to Beth Konrad and they have two daughters, whom they raised in Grosse Pointe for 15 years. They moved to Chicago in 2001 where Frank would expand his media research business and Beth would teach at Loyola University.
In 2008, Frank went into recovery due to addiction problems, which led him down a different career path. At age 62, he started the process to obtain a masters in social work from Loyola. He then began working for the Hazelden Foundation, counseling people to deal with their addictions before addressing any underlying mental illness.
Frank eventually started his own private practice and moved back to Grosse Pointe 4 years ago. He continues to work with grief and addiction counseling and is on the board of the Family Center. Beth is on the GP Farms City Council.
Frank sprinkled in many funny anecdotes, including his time in the National Guard and his obsession with baseball, which involved “stalking” Dave Rozema and attending the Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camp at age 72.