Franklin Fuller Ripley
January 26, 1911-May 24, 2007
Obituary for the Keene Sentinel, Keene, New Hampshire
Franklin Fuller Ripley of Keene, a textile industrialist known to many for his zest for life, died May 24, 2007, at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene. He was 96.
He was a member of the family that owned and ran Troy Mills in Troy, a textile enterprise that lasted far longer than most other New England mills until its closing several years ago.
He was also an active sportsman until very recently.
He was born in Troy Jan. 26, 1911, the son of Franklin Ripley Jr. and Cora (Fuller) Ripley.
Following studies at Deerfield Academy, “Rip” graduated from Dartmouth College in 1933 and studied textile engineering at Lowell Textile Institute.
He married Elizabeth Tilden Kingsbury of Keene in 1939, and they made their home in Troy and Keene, as well as at their beloved “Rip’s Retreat” at Granite Lake.
He joined Troy Blanket Mills in 1933 after college, and served as designer, treasurer, president and chairman during a career of over 60 years.
His innovative and risk-taking leadership enabled Troy Mills to survive until 2003 as one of the last operating textile manufacturing facilities in New Hampshire. His book “The Fabric of Troy”, published in 1986, serves as an insightful record of the textile industry in New Hampshire.
He served as president of the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association and as a director of the Northern Textile Association and the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire. The BIA presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
He was an early camper, leader, director, board president and trustee of the Cheshire YMCA, and received the organization’s Stone service award in 2005.
Civic service contributions also included the Troy School Board, director and chairman of the Cheshire National Bank, trustee of the Elliot Community Hospital and chairman of the building committee of the current Cheshire Medical Center.
Rip was an active golfer at Keene Country Club and with the Valley Seniors League until age 95. In a Sentinel interview in 2004, when he was in his early 90s, he said, “I can shoot my age, but not very often.”
He was a 60-year-plus member, past-president and Paul Harris Fellow of the Keene Rotary Club, and he played piano for club meetings until very recently.
Other interests included skiing, tennis, ice boating, canoeing, bridge, reading, and family. He remained physically active his entire life, and was an inspiring presence at the Total Fitness Zone in Keene until very recently. He was last in a sailboat only two years ago. He was known by many newcomers to Granite Lake for his warm and gracious welcome to the community.
Among his many personal associations, he was the last surviving signatory of the articles of incorporation of the Amalgamated Squash Chowder & Development Corp., the oldest free-standing squash court in North America, located in Keene. It was his practice to lead the club membership in the singing of “The Fireman’s Song,” a ridiculous ditty, at its annual meetings on the club floor.
For the last couple of decades, he was also a member of a group called the Romeos — an acronym for Retired Old Men Eating Out — that met biweekly at the Keene Country Club to discuss serious topics.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Kingsbury Ripley of Keene; daughters Judith Walton and her husband Tom of Queensbury, N.Y., Rachel Roach of Palmdale, Calif., and Sally Ripley of Munsonville; one son, Barrett Ripley and his wife Carole of Newport, R.I.; eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews who felt very close to him.
Services for Mr. Ripley will be private. There are no public calling hours. A memorial service will be held at a date to be announced.
The Fletcher Funeral Home & Cremation Services of Keene is in charge of arrangements.
The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made in Rip’s memory to The Mayhew Center, P.O. Box 120 Bristol 03222; the Cheshire YMCA, P.O. Box 647, Keene 03431; or the Chapel at the Lake, Munsonville, in care of 34 Court St., Keene 03431.
Mr. Ripley served on the Executive Committee of the NTA's Wool Manufacturers Council from 1967 to 1973.