Mr. Frank Perron Achorn, 92, of Florence, died after a brief illness on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at his home, with his family by his side.

The service to celebrate Frank’s life will be Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, Florence with the Rev. Mike Pope and the Rev. Robert Sparkman officiating. A time of visitation will be held from1:00 p.m. until service time in McDowell Hall at the church. The committal service, with full military honors, will be at Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens on Thursday morning.

Frank enlisted in the U.S. Navy on December 13, 1942 while at the Mississippi State University Infirmary recovering from a broken leg as the result of a football injury. He served aboard the USS English in the Pacific during World War II and then graduated from the University of Louisville with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He began his career at TVA in 1947 as a Chemical Engineer and then was recalled by the Navy and served during the Korean Conflict. At TVA he worked in forty-five states and forty countries to feed the hungry through increased crop yields. During his career, he secured eight patents relating to the fertilizer industry. Frank remained active in his profession until December 2013.

He is a past member of the Florence Rotary Club and a member of Turtle Point Yacht and Country Club. He was a member of the International Fertilizer Society, a lifetime member of the American Chemical Society and was a member of the Battleship Alabama Commission.

Frank lived, thought and dreamed fertilizers, often to the chagrin of his family. He has been rightly accused by them and his colleagues of conducting small pilot-plant studies on his own lawn on evenings and weekends.

He is survived by his wife Betty Haddock Achorn; children Dr. Frank P. Achorn, Jr., Meridian, MS, Judy Achorn Reeder, Florence, Ted Glen Achorn (Cynthia), Davidsonville, MD, John Richard Cobb (Lisa) and Beth Cobb Russell (Gavin); grandchildren Preston Reeder (Virginia), Rachel Achorn Weatherly (Stephen), Perron Reeder (Lindy), Frank P. Achorn III, Glen Achorn, 1st Lt. Sydney Cobb, Bethany Cobb, Patrick Russell, Alice Russell, Nathan Cobb, Saoirse Russell, Walt Russell and John Wolff; great-grandchildren Mason Perron Reeder, Evelyn Reeder and Mary Martin Reeder; nephew Jimmy Achorn (Beverly) and niece Betsy Lee Francis (Charles).

Frank was preceded in death by his parents Glenwood Bryant Achorn and Leona Weatherby Achorn, his first wife Evelyn Jane Showalter Achorn, and a brother Bryant Achorn.

Frank’s grandsons will serve as pallbearers and members of the Ferguson and Graham Sunday School Classes will serve as honorary pallbearers at the church.
The family offers their special thanks to Dr. John Bartmess, Dr. Robert Webb, Hospice of the Shoals, Eldercare Services, and the private sitters who took care of Frank.

Please consider memorials to the First United Methodist Church Building Fund, Hospice of the Shoals or your favorite charity.

Elkins Funeral Home and Steve Chenault are assisting the family.