Franklin Montgomery

Franklin L. Montgomery, age 90, passed away peacefully at his home in Cokesbury Village in Hockessin, Delaware on October 5, 2025. Son of Edward Wilkerson and Ruth Sharar Montgomery, he was the youngest of three children. Frank graduated from Galesburg High School in Illinois in 1952. He attended Knox College in Galesburg, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1956. He then went on to the University of Iowa receiving a PhD in organic chemistry in 1960.

Frank joined the Du Pont Company at the Experimental Station in the fall of 1960 and had a long and varied career with Du Pont starting with basic research while earning several patents and several assignments in production management and many large project leader assignments. He then led the design and construction of a Hytrel^R plant at the DuPont site in Luxembourg and then plant manager, where the family lived for three years. He always said, “Those were the best three years of our lives.” The boys were starting sixth and ninth grades and attended an International School made up of students from all over the world. His last assignment, following return to Wilmington, was the Business Engineering Manager for the Engineering Polymers Division, where he retired after 35 years.

Frank retired early so he could have more time to follow his vocation of woodworking where he loved to design and make furniture for his wife Flo and two daughters-in-law. He also found time and energy for volunteering one day a week at Habitat for Humanity for 9 years and one morning a week leading a group of volunteers to do varied odd jobs repairing, painting, modifying and building new things for St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

He and Flo finally decided to give up home ownership and enjoy a more relaxing lifestyle and moved to Cokesbury Village in Hockessin, Delaware. They became active in various activities and enjoyed many other amenities of life there. They now had more time to enjoy their sons’ families. He loved his grandchildren.

Frank is predeceased by his parents and his brother Edward. He is survived by his wife Flo, his elder son Frank and wife Amy Gilbert and their three daughters Julia, Anna and Gretchen (Fort Lauderdale, FL) and by his son Ben and wife Tanyia Mychak and their three boys Benny and twins Chase and Bode (Lewisberry, PA), his sister Jane Gross (St. Paul, MN) and his sister-in-law Shari (Tucson, AZ).