Deceased January 11, 2015
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50th Reunion Book Entry
In Memory
Word has been received that Francisco R. Floro of Manila, Philippines, died Jan. 11, 2015. Frank was 81 at the time of his death. He was the youngest member of the class of 1953.
Frank came to Amherst from the Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pa. On campus, he was a member of Psi Upsilon and the freshmen wrestling team.
Frank took an accelerated summer program and graduated from Amherst in 1952. He went on to get a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford. A month after getting his M.A., Frank married Charlotte Aspuria, a Filipino born in Hawaii, and in September 1954 they moved to his native Philippines, where Frank joined the family-owned business, Floro Enterprises Inc.
Frank was an active promoter of small businesses. At his death, he was chairman of the board of the Small Enterprise Research and Development Foundation, a position he held beginning in 1986. The president of the organization wrote that Frank “personified the qualities and values of entrepreneurship and leadership which the foundation is committed to foster. We will honor his memory by continuing the entrepreneurship advocacy he loved so much.”
Mike Palmer, a fraternity brother and roommate, remembers Frank as a “pleasant and cheerful friend at all times … , a good guy.”
Mike remembers a speech Frank gave in chapel about discrimination, which, Frank said, occurs in all nations, including the Philippines, where Chinese were looked down upon. “It was quite a speech—a revelation to me,” Mike said.
Mike kept in touch with Frank through the years. He recalls that Frank returned for our 50th reunion and stayed with his family in Maine for a while afterwards. Frank’s wife passed away in 1995. Their children include Francisco Mark Floro ’77.
George Gates ’53