Staff writer
Myron Frans, commissioner of revenue for the state of Minnesota, is often busy working with Gov. Mark Dayton to improve Minnesota’s tax budget, but his memories of Marion are far from fleeting.
He remembers searching for the best homes to eat lunch at during summer bike rides. He recalls that it flooded often before the reservoir’s construction, and that the double cheeseburgers at Burger Shake were the best in the world.
“Everyone knew everybody,” Frans said. “That’s what I miss about Marion.”
A four-sport letter-winner and student council president at Marion High School, Frans said he is excited to come back to Marion for the 1968 class’s reunion during Old Settlers’ Day.
“There’s a lot of people there I still consider friends,” he said. “I’m looking forward to getting to talk about old times.”
Frans is married to Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal, with whom he has two sons, Nathan, 27, and Isaac, 17.
As Minnesota’s commissioner of revenue, Frans served an important role in legislative negotiations when the NFL’s Vikings needed funding for their $975 million stadium.
Before he came to his current job in 2011, Frans spent the better part of 27 years in private practice as a tax attorney.
Before that, he had pursued a brief career in criminal justice, like his father, Charlie, who had worked as Marion’s police chief.
Myron graduated from Washburn University in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, working as a parole officer until 1975.
After leaving Sam Houston State with a master’s in criminology, Frans spent two years teaching at the universities of West Virginia and Michigan Universities before coming back to Kansas, pursuing a law degree.
“Really in law school I became interested in tax law,” he said.
He attended law school at the University of Kansas, deciding to switch his career path by the time he graduated in 1983.
“Growing up in a small town like Marion and attending a small school was a great opportunity to get involved,” Frans said. “Being involved with different things helps you have the confidence that you can do what you set your mind to.”