Franklin W. Pierce

       Franklin Wadsworth Pierce passed away July 15, 2016, aged 92 years and 39 days.  Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was the son of Edward L. Pierce and Florence May Young.  He was predeceased by his sister, Virginia, brother, James, and first and second wives, Lucille and Marianne.

      Franklin attended Mount Hermon Academy for two years, and then graduated from Choate School in 1943.  He excelled in sports at both schools, winning nine varsity letters at Choate in hockey, tennis, and soccer.  In addition, he was the winner of the class commando prize, arguably making him the schools best athlete in 1943.  Franklin joined the class of '47 at Princeton University.  World War II interrupted his studies and he entered the United States Navy's officer training program before becoming a medical corpsman.  Upon his return to Princeton, he played center forward on the varsity soccer teams of 1946 and 1947.  He blamed himself for Princeton's failure to clinch the Ivy League title, when he hesitated to take the title winning shot with his left foot.  Favoring his better right foot allowed the opposing goalie time to adjust and block his effort.  His studies at Princeton focused on art, philosophy, and economics.

      Athletics remained central to Franklin's life.  Beside his commando prize at Choate, he was most proud of scoring a hat trick against Lawrenceville, at Baker Rink in Princeton, during his team's final Choate Hockey game.  He was also proud to qualify three times to compete in the National Tennis Championship held at Forest Hills.

      In 1950, Franklin married Lucille Bromilow of Paterson, New Jersey, with whom he had two sons, Franklin B. and Mark, and a daughter, Lucila.  He worked as a salesman in Manhattan, New York, before founding the Homeplanner Furniture Company, which grew to include four retail furniture stores.  In 1968, Franklin began is second career as a tennis professional.  He held some of America's most coveted tennis teaching jobs, including positions at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona, and finally, the Garden of the Gods Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

      In 1980, while living in Scottsdale, Arizona, Franklin met the love of his life, Marianne LaPrade.  They married in 1982.  Marianne rejuvenated Franklin's retail tennis shop, Tennis Tienda, in Scottsdale and their jewel, the tennis shop at Garden of the Gods.  They retired to her beautiful spacious Scottsdale home in 1994.  After Marianne's passing in 2009, Franklin lived in Middletown, New Jersey with his two sons, daughter-in-law, Barbara, and two grandsons, Ryan and Taylor Pierce.  He is survived by them, as well as Mark's second wife Patty, his daughter Lucila, and her family; husband Mark Hanson, and Franklin's grandchildren, Blake and Lauren Hanson.  He also leaves behind his wonderful Arizona family with whom he enjoyed nearly forty years of love and friendship.  These are Marianne's children, Skip, Marty, Alice, and Candice LaPrade, and Ann McPherson and their spouses, children, and now grandchildren.

      Arrangements were entrusted to the Shore Point Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Inc., 3269 State Route 35 North, Hazlet, New Jersey 07730.  In respect of Franklin's wishes, he will be privately cremated.  For information, directions, or to send condolences to the family, please visit, www.shorepointfh.com.

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