IN
MEMORIAM: Frank P. Piskor
We invite you to share your memories
and reflections of President Piskor at our on-line memory book.
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I have very sad news to report to you this morning. Dr. Frank P. Piskor,
President Emeritus, died yesterday afternoon, March 8, at the Canton-Potsdam
Hospital. Frank had had a stroke last Thursday. Ann and I visited him
yesterday, just before noon—his spirits were high and, as always,
we had a wonderful talk. For us, his passing is a great personal loss
and it leaves a hole in the hearts of Laurentians everywhere as well
as members of the Canton and North Country communities to whom he devoted
25 years of service after his retirement from St. Lawrence in 1981.
I want to express deepest sympathy on behalf of all Laurentians to his
daughters Joanne Jones and Nancy Twichell and their families, and especially
to his grandson Nate, a St. Lawrence senior, a young man of whom Frank
was wonderfully proud.
A memorial service
will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2006, at 2:00 p.m., in Gunnison
Memorial Chapel. Frank’s family requests that if you wish to remember
him, they would be grateful for contributions to the Anne C. and Frank
P. Piskor Scholarship, c/o Development Office, Vilas 213, St. Lawrence
University.
When Ann and I came back to St. Lawrence in 1996, Frank and his Anne,
who died in 2000, welcomed us warmly. More importantly, they and then
later Frank did all they could to help us succeed here. We knew, of
course, of their powerful impact on St. Lawrence during Frank’s
years of leadership of the University—his mark is everywhere—and
had met them when we returned for reunion. Always available for consultation
in a way that made us want to seek it, there would be hints that something
might need attention, or more attention, and news about alumni, parents,
and friends of the University who just might be ready to increase their
philanthropy. Frank was in touch with literally hundreds of Laurentians
because they wanted to stay in touch with him. He was a giant on whose
shoulders I and others have stood.
When he retired in 1981, he and Anne, and again then later Frank himself,
began to have the same kind of impact on the Canton community—the
place they decided was their home. It’s hard to think of an important
project or need in our community that missed their attention, through
leadership and through quiet philanthropy that, over time, has added
up to an amazing level. They lived frugally so that there would be the
possibility of financial support for the community, and the University,
that they came to love as their own.
Frank was humble and modest about all of this. When Joanne, Nancy,
Judy Gibson and Ann began to collude to organize a
90th birthday celebration at MacAllaster House this past January,
it was up to me to break the news of it to Frank. I called to say that
we were arranging a reception in honor of his birthday, and that it
would be on January 8 (his birthday was January 5), a Sunday, so that
lots of people could come. Joanne and Nancy were in cahoots with Ann,
I said, so if he were going to be free, we hoped he would join us. He
said somewhat gruffly: “I never celebrate my birthday.”
I said: “You’re still not going to celebrate your birthday—the
reception is three days later!” He laughed and agreed that perhaps
he didn’t have any choice this time.
There is so much to say about this great man, and I know that many,
many others will help say it in the days to come. For those of you who
know him less, here is a bit of biography:
“Dr. Frank Peter Piskor, President of St. Lawrence University
from 1969 to 1981, was born January 5, 1916. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa
from Middlebury College in 1937 and earned the Ph.D. at Syracuse University
in 1950. He married Anne Calder in 1945; they were the parents of two
daughters, Joanne Jones and Nancy Twichell. Anne Piskor died in 2000.
He joined the staff of Syracuse University in 1939 as a personnel counselor.
In 1941, he became an instructor and was promoted to full professor
in 1960. While at Syracuse, Dr. Piskor also served as dean of men, vice
president and dean of student services and faculties. In 1969, he became
vice chancellor and provost, and later that year, he left to become
the 14th president of St. Lawrence University.
Dr. Piskor's presidency saw both tremendous growth of the University
and occasional turbulence, as was the case at virtually all institutions
of higher education during that era. While he was president, St. Lawrence
grew from serving roughly 1,400 students to become a 30-building complex
serving 2,000 students. Among the historical milestones that took place
during the Piskor presidency are:
1970: the Augsbury
Physical Education Center and Leithead Field House were built.
1974: St. Lawrence became the first college in America to establish
its own study program in Kenya.
Two additional international programs, in Canada
and England,
were added to St. Lawrence’s options under Dr. Piskor’s
leadership.
1979: The Richard F. Brush Art Gallery
is dedicated
1980: the new $4.2 million addition to the Owen
D. Young Library, the Torrey Wing, opened.
In addition to his devotion to St. Lawrence, Dr. Piskor was extremely
active in his community. Among the organizations and businesses benefiting
from his participation and leadership were the E.J. Noble Foundation,
the Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, the E.J. Noble Hospital, Canton-Potsdam
Hospital, the St. Lawrence County Boy Scout Council, the Canton Rotary
Club, the Syracuse University Library Associates, the Citizens Foundation
of Syracuse, the Middlebury Alumni Council, the Syracuse Symphony, the
Plymouth Congregational Church, the St. Lawrence County Bank (now Community
Bank), Syracuse Savings Bank and Niagara Mohawk.
Dr. Piskor received many honors and awards during his career, including
honorary degrees from St. Lawrence, Middlebury, Syracuse, Alfred University,
Clarkson University, Colgate University and Westminster College. He
also was awarded the Syracuse University Library Associates Post-Standard
Award for Distinguished Service, the Canton ATC College Council Chairman's
Award, the Award for Distinguished Service to Education from SUNY Potsdam,
the Canton-Potsdam Hospital Board of Directors Service Award and the
Good Scout Award from the Seaway Valley Council for Boy Scouts. The
Canton Rotary Club named him a Paul Harris Fellow, its highest honor,
in 1989. In May, Dr. Piskor was to receive a St. Lawrence University
North Country Citation for his decades of service to the region.
Poet Robert Frost was a personal friend of Dr. Piskor's. The two met
in 1935, when Dr. Piskor worked as a kitchen assistant at Middlebury's
Breadloaf School for writers. It began a lifelong interest in Frost
and his work; St. Lawrence's Frost Collection in the rare books area
of Owen D. Young Library was given
to the University by Dr. Piskor.
It is among his many and varied gifts to St. Lawrence. In addition
to the Robert Frost Collection, he gave the library the Edward Arlington
Robinson Collection, etchings by artist Martin Hardie and a collection
of works by author Marianne Moore. He also established the Anne and
Frank Piskor Scholarship. Upon his retirement, faculty and staff established
the Frank Piskor Faculty Lectureship in his honor, and trustees at that
time established the Frank Piskor Professorship, held today by English
professor Thomas Berger.”
Frank, we wish you Godspeed, forever grateful for your presence among
us.
President Daniel F. Sullivan
March 9, 2006
