Francis Dring Wetherill ^{1 2}

  General Notes:

Francis D. Wetherill | Yachtsman, traveler, 87

Francis D. Wetherill, 87, a gentleman with charm, wit and a sense of fun who traveled between the Main Line and France, died Sunday at his winter home in Delray Beach, Fla. Mr. Wetherill, who spoke the language so well he could fool a Frenchman, was a longtime resident of Chestnut Hill.

Born in Merion to a family with deep Philadelphia roots, Mr. Wetherill attended Episcopal Academy and earned a bachelor's in history in 1939 from the University of Pennsylvania. During World War II, he was a Navy officer who served as the admiral's assistant on a destroyer until 1947, his daughter, Fernanda Niven, said.

In 1945, he was married to heiress Fernanda Wanamaker. Mr. Wetherill was employed as import manager for the John Wanamaker stores. They had two children before divorcing in 1949. Mr. Wetherill married the heiress Aimee DuPont Wickes in 1950. He founded the former Neshaminy Electronics Corp., where he worked until retirement in 1986. The couple sailed the world in their various yachts until her death in 1997. "After my father became too sick to sail, when he saw the ocean, he got an endearing, faraway look in his eyes," Mrs. Niven said. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Wetherill is survived by son F. Dring Wetherill Jr.; stepsons Bob and John Wickes; and five granddaughters.

A funeral service will be held at 12:30 today at the DuPont family cemetery on Buck Road in Wilmington.

Memorial donations may be made to the Radiation Department, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia 19118.

Francis married Fernanda Pauline Wanamaker, daughter of John Wanamaker and Pauline Disston, in 1945. (Fernanda Pauline Wanamaker was born in 1922 in New York, New York, USA and died on 5 Nov 1974 in New York, New York, USA.)

Francis next married Aimee Du Pont, daughter of Eugene Irenee Du Pont , II and Ethel Pyle, in 1950. (Aimee Du Pont was born on 1 Jan 1920 and died on 29 Jan 1997.)