Frank Laverne Schweingruber of Evanston, Ill., formerly of Zelienople, died Sunday.

He was born in Ellwood City, May 7, 1938, to Russell Victor and Dorothy Elizabeth Schweingruber.

The third of seven siblings, Frank grew up on a farm in Lancaster Township. He graduated from Zelienople High School in 1955 and attended Fenn College, now Cleveland State University, in Cleveland, Ohio, where, in 1961, he received his BS degree in engineering. He earned his PhD in physics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., in 1967.

Frank retired from Searle Pharmaceuticals as a computer programmer in 1993 after 33 years. While "officially" retired from Searle in 1993, he immediately returned as a consultant until 2004 when he truly retired.

Frank will be lovingly remembered as a husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, colleague, mentor, friend, float builder, scientist and ballplayer. He will be deeply missed.

He is survived by his wife, Charlynn Delcene (Rosenberg) Schweingruber, who he married July 18, 1964; his two daughters, Heidi and Wendi; his sisters, Patricia Platt of West Chester, Pa., Marie Grant of Zelienople and Sally Trump of Womelsdorf, Pa.; his brothers, David of Erie, Donald of Bluffton, Ohio, and Jerry of Lebanon, Pa.; and his three grandchildren, Ian, Carsten and Delcene.

<B>SCHWEINGRUBER</B> — A memorial and celebration of the life of Frank Laverne Schweingruber, who died Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, will be held Feb. 27, 2010, at the Evanston Ecology Center in Evanston, Ill.In memory of Frank, donations can be made in his name to the Frank Schweingruber Memorial Playground fund or to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. For information regarding memorials and donations, you can go to memorialwebsites.legacy.com/frankschweingruber.Information was submitted by the <B>Boylan Funeral Home</B>, Zelienople, and online condolences can be made at www.boylanfuneralhome.com.