Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Francis Potts Jr. WITMER
Frank P. Witmer Jr., 95,
Prospect Park resident
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Frank P. Witmer Jr., 95, a longtime resident of Prospect Park and founder of the Prospect Park Termites boys football team, died April 4 at his home.
Born in East Orange, N.J., he spent his childhood in Bala Cynwyd, graduating from Lower Merion High School, where he played football.
He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where he lettered in lightweight crew.
Mr. Witmer was a licensed professional engineer. He devoted his career to designing large power plants worldwide for the Kuljian Corp. of Philadelphia, retiring in 1977.
He devoted all his after-work energies to his love of football and the area's youth. In 1948, he founded the Prospect Park Termites football team by convincing a group of neighborhood kids to move their rough-touch game from the street into his backyard.
"We practiced in that back yard for 20 years," Mr. Witmer recalled in a 2005 letter to the Daily Times. "First we had to remove the back fence. That gave us about 45 yards between the rear wall of our house and the bank of the creek. To catch a long pass, you could land in the water.
"Going in the other direction, we had to blow the whistle before somebody crashed into the brick wall. To run a wide play, you could bounce off a picket fence like the boards at a hockey rink. In a goal-line stand, we could have 22 guys in the pileup.
"The boys had a name for our backyard. They called it Witmer's Blood Pit. My wife cared for the injured on her living room couch, which was covered on practice nights for all the mud and the blood."
The Termites program has served thousands of young athletes from the Interboro and Ridley communities.
An avid fan of all Termites and Interboro sports teams, Mr. Witmer was called upon to deliver half-time pep talks long after his coaching days had ended.
He was the recipient of many awards throughout his coaching career and the Prospect Park municipal field was renamed the "Frank P. Witmer Field" in 1968 in recognition of his dedication to youth sports.
Mr. Witmer was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Interboro School District, an inductee into the Interboro Hall of Fame, and received the 2004 Youth League Award from the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
He was a devoted Episcopalian for more than 90 years and served several terms on the Vestry at St. James Episcopal Church in Prospect Park.
Mr. Witmer was predeceased by his son, Frank Witmer III.
Survivors: Wife of 71 years, Peggy Witmer; son, Thomas Witmer of Seneca, S.C.; five grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.
Service: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, at St. James Episcopal Church, 11th and Lincoln Avenues, Prospect Park.
Visitation: 2-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Friday at the Griffith Funeral Chapel, 520 Chester Pike, Norwood.
Burial: Edgewood Memorial Park, Concord.
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