Frank Howell Seay

Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Seay received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Oklahoma in 1961. He received a Bachelor of Laws from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1963. He was in private practice of law in Seminole, Oklahoma from 1963 to 1966. He was the county attorney of Seminole County, Oklahoma from 1963 to 1966. He was the first assistant district attorney of 22nd Judicial District of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1968. He was an Associate judge of the District Court of Oklahoma in Seminole County from 1968 to 1974. He was a judge of the 22nd Judicial District Court of Oklahoma from 1974 to 1979.[1]

Seay was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on September 28, 1979, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma vacated by Judge Joseph Wilson Morris. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1979, and received his commission on November 2, 1979. He served as Chief Judge from 1980 to 1996. He assumed senior status on September 25, 2003.[1] As of 2020, Seay is the last judge appointed by a Democratic president to the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

Seay's paternal grandfather was a full-blooded Native American.[3] Seay did not discover his Native American heritage, likely Cherokee, until after he was appointed to the federal bench.[3]

• Frank Howell Seay at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.