Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Frank Miles 2nd DAY
Frank Miles Day 2d, 85, chairman of the Philadelphia Friends Peace Committee from 1970 to 1974, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease Dec. 31 at White Horse Village, a retirement community in Newtown Square.
Mr. Day shared the same names as a grandfather, the Philadelphia architect Frank Miles Day, but was the son of Kenneth Day and referred to himself as F. Miles Day.
Mr. Day was a transportation engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad and a successor, Conrail, from 1954 until 1984, when he retired as a manager of facilities and service planning.
But he was better known for his peace activism.
A daughter, Jeannie Roggio, said he was a member of Haverford Friends Meeting for 48 years who became an activist opposing the Vietnam War.
An April 1971 Inquirer article reported that he was one of six people for whom the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal suit demanding the destruction of 18,000 files of the Philadelphia Police Department.
The suit, against Mayor James H.J. Tate and several top city officials, contended that the files, containing information gathered at public gatherings, were "separate from police investigations or records connected with criminal offenses or arrests."
David Rudovsky, the ACLU lawyer in that case, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting v. Tate, recalled last week that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit "found that the dissemination, but not the collection, of the information on political activities was unconstitutional."
Rudovsky said that "the city agreed to pay the plaintiffs money damages," but he could not recall the amount.
Twenty years later, Mr. Day was still going.
In January 1991, Mr. Day was near the Liberty Bell at a demonstration against the impending Gulf War, part of a nationwide protest.
"This is different" from Vietnam-era demonstrations, he told an Inquirer reporter, "because the people have the opportunity to oppose it in advance - not after thousands are dead and our country is committed."
After his retirement from Conrail, Mr. Day was from 1989 to 1994 the chairman of the Octavia Hill Association, which, since 1896, has owned, renovated, and built affordable housing in Germantown, Kensington, and Manayunk as well as in its home base of Society Hill and Queen Village.
Mr. Day's daughter said that in retirement, he journeyed in his 27-foot Cape Dory diesel-powered sailboat from the Jersey Shore to several Caribbean islands.
For the 1988 Australian Bicentennial, she said, Mr. Day was a member of the crew that sailed a tall ship from Tasmania around Cape Horn to England.
Mr. Day graduated from Fresnal Ranch School near Yuma, Ariz., in 1942, earned a mechanical-engineering degree in an accelerated program at the California Institute of Technology in 1945, and served in the Navy in the Pacific.
Mr. Day lived in Wayne from 1962 to 1981 and in Center City until 1999, when he moved to White Horse Village.
Besides his daughter Jeannie, Mr. Day is survived by his wife of 61 years, Doris; a son, Kenneth; daughters Susanna Creely and Mia Burroughs; a sister; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial was set for 2 p.m. Jan. 30 at Haverford Friends Meeting, 855 Buck Lane, Haverford.
Frank Miles Day F. Miles Day 85 formerly of Wayne PA and Rodman Street in Philadelphia died on Dec. 31 2009 at Whitehorse Village in Newtown Square of complications of Alzheimer's and emphysema. Miles was the son of Helena Mitchell Day and architect Kenneth Mackenzie Day and was born in 1924. Miles attended the Fresnal Ranch School near Yuma Ariz. from the age of ten. During his senior year while returning on horse back from the Quechan Indian Reservation Miles and his companions were intercepted by several men who informed them that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Miles recalled that he knew immediately "that their lives were about to change forever." He enlisted in the Navy in November 1942. Miles graduated from Cal Tech in 1945 with a degree in mechanical engineering having participated in an accelerated program that prepared students to serve in the Navy. He was sent to the Pacific fleet just as World War II was ending. During the Korean War Miles was deployed on the U.S.S. Panamint -- one of the fleet that attended the Bikini Nuclear Tests. He also served on the U.S.S. Cushing U.S.S. Mack and the U.S.S. San Marcos. Following his marriage to Doris Anne Weyl in 1948 and a brief period of employment at Selas Corp. and the Budd Company Miles began his career in 1954 with the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Conrail) as a transportation engineer and coal and ore expert. The Day family lived in ten cities and towns in five states between 1950 and 1961 finally settling in Wayne Pa. where the four children attended the Radnor schools. Miles was a member of Haverford Friends Meeting for 48 years having chosen to become a Quaker following his military service. During the Vietnam War Miles became a peace activist. In 1968 he was arrested in Washington D.C. during a peaceful war protest. The American Civil Liberties Union successfully sued the U.S. government in a case finally decided by the Supreme Court. Miles chose to be reimbursed for exactly one day's pay for which he had been docked by his employer. At various times over the next twenty years Miles was the Secretary of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Chair of the Philadelphia Friends Peace Committee and a board member of the Octavia Hill Association. He also helped to rehabilitate low-cost houses. Miles was a life-long sailor. As the Vietnam War came to an end Miles turned his attention to single-handed sailing. After he retired in 1984 he sailed his 27-foot Cape Dory sailboat from Barnegat Light N.J. to New England and then south to visit Puerto Rico the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1988 he crewed a Tall Ship that was part of the Australian Bicentennial from Tasmania around Cape Horn to England. He was the only American and oldest person on board to complete the trip. When stateside Miles volunteered on projects as a member of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Miles advocated for a project to open a public walkway that stretched from Locust Street along the Conrail tracks on the east side of the Schuylkill River all the way to the Art Museum on the west side. After moving to Whitehorse Village in 1999 Miles was known for his many volunteer activities. In his final years Miles lovingly tended to his faithful companion Mr. Dawg. Miles' extraordinary work ethic life of service breadth of knowledge and eccentricities will be fondly remembered by his children Jeannie Day Roggio (Bob) of Malvern Kenneth (Kim) Day (wife Kim) of St. Davids Susanna Day Creely (Ray) of Chesterfield Mo. and Mia Day Burroughs (Scott) of Chapel Hill N.C. nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Miles is also survived by his wife Doris and his sister Lea Day Burroughs of Berkeley Calif. He was predeceased by his brother Langdon Day.
| HOME | EMAIL | SURNAMES |
Return to The Pennocks of Primitive Hall website.
The information in this database may contain errors. If you find any questionable data, or if you have something to add my findings, please feel free to e-mail me by clicking on the "E-MAIL" link above. Thank you!
Page built by Gedpage Version 2.21 ©2009 on 07 July 2020