Frank A. & Dorothy W. Zillmer Endowed Scholarship

Frank A. Zillmer was born in Chicago in 1914 to Adeline (Eiszner) and Frank Gottlieb Zillmer. Frank grew up in Morehouse, Missouri, and later worked his way through college. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1936. Frank majored in history and remained a student of that subject his entire life. He especially enjoyed reading American history and biographies of world leaders.

He was a Navy veteran of World War II and served as a gunnery officer on the U.S.S. Franklin, surviving its bombing in 1945. After seven battle stars in the South Pacific, he was honorably discharged as a lieutenant. In 1945, he married Dorothy Smith Williams of Providence, Rhode Island, an artist. He enjoyed a long career at RR Donnelly in Chicago where he was director of their Creative Group (Mobium). He and Dorothy had one son, Wynn, who was severely handicapped. They cared for him at their home in Lake Forest, Illinois until Wynn’s death at the age of 20. Upon Frank’s retirement in 1980, he and Dorothy moved to Little Compton, Rhode Island, where they were supporters of the arts and the Providence Athenaeum, as well as avid gardeners and naturalists.

One of the authors Frank enjoyed was Henry David Thoreau, who said, “Be not merely good, be good for something.” His family and friends hope his gift will allow some deserving students the opportunity to do just that.