KENNESAW - Frank Boone, a well-known veterinarian and businessman in Kennesaw, died Wednesday. He was 66.

Although Dr. Boone was a native of Virginia, he had been a key member of the Kennesaw community for more than 40 years. He graduated from the University of Georgia's veterinary school in 1969 and opened his North Cobb Animal Clinic in Kennesaw that same year. He later earned a law degree from Atlanta Law School.

Carol Thompson, the owner of the Bright Side Community Newspapers, first met Dr. Boone when her family's pets needed a veterinarian and later came to know him better through the Kennesaw Business Association, which Dr. Boone helped found in 1975.

"He was very kind, and he worked behind the scenes a lot to help people," Thompson said. "He was always there whenever anyone needed anything, and he loved the city of Kennesaw."

The Thompson and Boone families grew very close over the years, and in 1988 she helped him campaign for an open seat in the state Senate. Although he lost the run-off election to Marietta lawyer Chuck Clay, a different service opportunity awaited Dr. Boone in 1990 when he was elected to the board of directors of Cobb EMC, she said.

"I think that allowed him to do far more for the community than he could have in the senate," she said. Dr. Boone served on the Cobb EMC board until shortly before his death.

Paul Chastain, a commercial real estate broker who met Dr. Boone through the Kennesaw Business Association in 1985, said his friend was "one of a kind."

"Anything he did, he did with a motive to improve the community. The projects we worked on were always for the community, and nothing for self," Chastain said.

Dr. Boone served on the city council in the 1970s, and later on the city's historic preservation commission, and as chairman of the Kennesaw Downtown Development Authority. He was a founding member of the Kennesaw Museum Foundation, a board that Chastain now chairs.

"He was a very quiet man," Chastain said. "He would listen, and then he'd make a comment, and normally that was the direction you would take."

Randall Bentley, the city's attorney, knew Dr. Boone for about 15 years. Dr. Boone enjoyed going to see movies and was always asking what movies he had seen recently, Bentley said.

"He was just a very likeable individual," Bentley said. "He always treasured his family, and the city. He really was a visionary for the city. He will be missed, but his legend will live on."

Antiques, including motorcycles, classic cars and historic homes, were a passion of Dr. Boone's. Thompson said Dr. Boone "could fix anything in the world."

"He fixed my stove for me about three different times," she said. "Finally, the last time he said, 'Carol, you're going to have to buy a new oven because we're going to burn your house down.'"

Dr. Boone is survived by his wife of 33 years, Barbara Bass Boone; a son, Frank Ryan Barrett Boone, of Kennesaw; a daughter, Joi Hartsfield, of Los Angeles; father, Norval Boone, and siblings Barbara Witt, Amy Quesenberry, and NA Boone Jr., all of Bedford, Va.

Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Winkenhofer Funeral Home, 2950 North Cobb Parkway, Kennesaw. A memorial service will be conducted at 7 p.m. Wednesday at NorthStar Church, 3413 Blue Springs Rd NW, Kennesaw.