Franklin D. Shiller

Franklin D. Shiller, age 89, passed away Thursday, October 13, 2022.

Service: The family will receive friends from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at Jaybird Cemetery with a service to commence at 11:00 a.m.

Frank was the youngest of six children, born at Thrall, Texas on a small share-cropper farm next to Brushy Creek. His father died when Frank was three, leaving the family with $600 insurance money, four mules and some farm equipment. With the help of the older children, his mother farmed cotton for two years until a brother in Fort Worth arranged for a Keller Banker, Mr. Ray White, to move the family to his farm rent free. This supreme act of kindness saved the family.

Frank accepted Christ as a teenager and was an active member of Arborlawn United Methodist Church. He graduated from Diamond Hill High School in 1950 and began working as a fingerprint technician for the Fort Worth Police Department. He was called into active Navy duty during the Korean War and was stationed in Washington, D.C. and French Morocco. On returning, he earned a degree in Chemistry from TCU and became one of the original members of the newly formed Police Crime Laboratory, retiring as its director in 1995.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Thelma; his parents; two sisters; two brothers.

Frank is survived by his sisters-in-law, Dolores Shiller and Judy Shiller; and nieces and nephews.