Dr. Franklin George Dill, 84, of Jacksonville, NC died peacefully at his home on Saturday morning, August 18, 2018, just six days shy of his 85th birthday.
Born in Tulsa, in 1933, to loving parents Jean Dill and George Matthew Dill. Frank shared a very happy childhood there with his younger sister, Elizabeth. He graduated from Classen High School and was a very proud Eagle Scout.
He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on a full academic scholarship. He was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Sphinx Head Society and lettered in crew where he held the number three seat when Cornell swept the IRA in 1955. He graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1956.
Frank was accepted into Cornell Medical School where he earned his medical degree while Nancy worked for Slone Kettering and they began their family. He attended Vanderbilt University where he was Chief Resident of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Upon graduation he was offered a position as a professor at West Virginia Medical School, however with the addition of two more children they instead headed to North Carolina, where Frank started Jacksonville Women's Clinic, and they completed their family with their fourth child. He cared for and delivered literally ten thousand babies. He was a kind and compassionate physician whose patients fully trusted him with their care many through multiple generations. He was also a member of the First Presbyterian Church where was a member of the Session.
His wife, Nancy, and he were truly pioneers in every sense of the word, as well as ardent antiquarians. They lovingly relocated and restored an 1820's farmhouse, where they raised their family and shared their mutual love of antiques, quilts, and samplers well as gardening and cryptograms until her death in 1987. She was the love of his life and he never remarried. However, some years later, he met Kay Williams, the curator of Tryon Palace in New Bern, N.C. and they became a devoted couple, seeing each other on weekends and travelling together for the next twenty years, until Kay's untimely death. She was an especially important figure in the life of his young son Thomas and was beloved by Frank's grandchildren.
He is finally reunited with his parents, his beloved wife, Nancy, and his dear son, Matthew, who died unexpectedly in 2017. He is survived by his son, Andrew and his wife, Dee Dee Davis Dill of Jacksonville, and their children, Daniel Jared Paul, Haley Elisabeth Hardin and her husband, Josh, and great-grandchild, Scarlett; his son, Thomas Dill of Jacksonville; his daughter, Eleanor Russo and her husband, Jerry Russo and daughter Ellie of Atlanta, Georgia; and, daughter-in-law, Hilda Cameron Dill of Wilmington, and Hilda and Matthew's children, Elisabeth and Margaret. He is also survived by his sister, Elizabeth, her husband, Alan Melton of Williamsburg.
The family will see visitors from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, August 23rd and the funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday, August 24th, both at the First Presbyterian Church, 400 N. Bayshore Blvd, Jacksonville, North Carolina 28540.
In lieu of flowers, please support one of Frank's favorite charities: the Jacksonville Onslow Council for the Arts - 826 New Bridge Street, Jacksonville, NC 28540; Children's Home Society of North Carolina – PO Box 14608 Greensboro, NC 27415. First Presbyterian Church - 400 N Bayshore Blvd, Jacksonville, NC 28540. We were so gently cared for by Onslow County Home Health - 4024 Richlands Hwy, Jacksonville, NC 28540.