Frank Peard died peacefully May 25, 2007, at his home in Duxbury, Mass., from complications of acute leukemia. During his brief stay at the cancer center in Boston, Frank was visited by two of his best friends and roommates, Gough Thompson and Dizzy Gillespie.
Frank graduated from the Gilman School in Baltimore, majored in politics, and belonged to Cap and Gown at Princeton. After graduation he joined more than 100 1952 ROTC artillery officers at Fort Sill, Okla., and later served in Korea at the conclusion of the war.
In 1955 he married Barbara Reifschneider and began a 40-year career as owner and board member of R.L. McCoy Lumber Co. But Frank’s core interests also sought to nurture a society that was less violent and provided opportunity for all. He exercised a passion to rescue teenage children from the despair of dysfunctional family life.
To this end, he and his wife served as guardians ad litem for the 10th Circuit Court in Florida, and spent countless weekends at the Martin County Boot Camp for Juvenile Offenders.
After the death of Frank’s first wife in 2002, he married Barbara Smith, who survives him, as do his four children and 10 grandchildren, to all of whom the class extends deepest sympathy.