Frank J. Golder

Frank J. Golder, age 101, 1103 S. Market St., Bloomsburg, passed away at his home at 9:25 p.m. Monday, June 20, 2011. He was in failing health for three years.

Born in Philadelphia on August 8, 1909, he was the son of the late Frank J. and Sara (Scott) Golder. He resided in the Bloomsburg area for most of his life.

Frank graduated from Bloomsburg High School in 1926 and was a 1931 graduate of Bloomsburg University. He received his Master’s Degree from Columbia University and completed additional graduate work at Bucknell University.

In college he was a member of the Husky baseball and basketball teams. During that time the basketball team earned its first state conference championship, and his performance earned him all-state point guard honors. He received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award in 1976 and was inducted into the Bloomsburg University Hall of Fame in 1988.

Frank began his teaching and coaching career at Hughesville where he coached three major sports for two years, and saw his basketball team take the West Branch title both years. In 1937 he returned to Bloomsburg to accept an eighth grade English position, and soon took over the basketball program. In nineteen years his team won ten Susquehanna League titles and a District Four Crown. He coached the baseball team for seven years, during which the nine took four District Four titles.

He was appointed high school principal in 1962 and continued in that capacity until his retirement in 1975. He spent thirteen years on the District Four PIAA Committee Board of Directors, and the last three of those years he served as chairman. In 2001 he was selected as one of Bloomsburg High School’s Graduates of Distinction.

He was an active member of the Wesley United Methodist Church, Bloomsburg; working as a trustee, youth Sunday school superintendent, communion steward, and member of the official board. He was also a member of the Bloomsburg Kiwanis Club; Bloomsburg Elks Club #436; Washington Lodge #265, F & A.M., Bloomsburg; Caldwell Consistory, Bloomsburg; and the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees.

Frank was preceded in death by four sisters: Kathryn Strauser, Marian Johnson, Sara Shaffer and Bernice Ross; and by a son-in-law, Frederick L. Baker.

Surviving is his wife, the former Myra Ritter, with whom he would have celebrated his 73rd wedding anniversary on July 1, 2011; a daughter, Anne G. Baker, Harrisburg; two grandchildren: Cheryl A. Seiger, Middletown and Frank J. Baker, wife Sandra, Harrisburg; three great-granddaughters: Alexandra Seiger, Hannah Baker and Cassandra Baker; a niece, Sara Johnson Gregor, husband Joseph, Downingtown; and a nephew, Richard Johnson, wife Karen, Chambersburg.

Funeral services will be held on Friday at noon in the Dean W. Kriner, Inc. Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 325 Market St., Bloomsburg, with his pastor, Rev. Jay E. Jones officiating. Interment in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Hughesville. Friends are invited to call at the funeral home on Friday from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The family will provide flowers. Memorials may be sent to any of the following: Wesley United Methodist Church, 130 W. Third St., Bloomsburg, PA 17815; Berwick Home Health Hospice, 6850 Lows Road, #102, Bloomsburg; a donation may be made in his name to the memorial scholarship fund for Bloomsburg High School, 1200 Railroad St., Bloomsburg; or to the Bloomsburg University Athletic Fund, 400 E. 2nd St., Bloomsburg.