When Francis Freelin "Frank" Fechtling was born on 29 April 1928, in Kirksville, Adair, Missouri, United States, his father, Ardie Freelin Fechtling, was 36 and his mother, Oma Edwinnie Grider, was 30. He married Mary Jean McCollom on 22 June 1957. He lived in Elm Township, Putnam, Missouri, United States for about 10 years. He died on 14 July 1996, in Putnam, Missouri, United States, at the age of 68, and was buried in Graysville, Putnam, Missouri, United States.