Frank M. Wright ’51

Frank was born Nov. 22, 1928, to Anna Moss and Minturn T. Wright. He attended William Penn Charter School in Germantown, Pa., and graduated from the Hotchkiss School in 1947. At Princeton, he was a member of Tiger Inn, rowed on the freshman 150-pound crew, and majored in civil engineering. He roomed with Bruce Beattie, Arthur Haas, and John Zabriskie.  

After graduation, Frank served in the Army Corps of Engineers in Korea for two years. He worked first for Colorado Fuel and Iron as an industrial engineer, and then moved to Los Angeles in 1955 to work for Douglas Aircraft as a structural engineer.

He earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from UC, Berkeley in 1961. In 1967 Douglas became McDonnell Douglas and Frank stayed with the company for 33 years, working on airplanes and space vehicles. He retired in 1988 and moved to Nevada City, Calif. (a gold-rush town originally known as Dry Diggins), where he was involved in environmental causes, principally with the South Yuba River Citizens League.

Frank died Jan. 11, 2014. He is survived by his brother, Minturn; sister Ethel; niece Caroline White ’87; and cousin Frank Moss ’67. His sister, Nancy Pepper, predeceased him.