MIDDLEBURY — Frank Edwards Punderson Jr., 86, died peacefully on Jan. 3, 2020, at his home, surrounded by his immediate family.
Frank was born in 1933 in Springfield, Mass., the youngest of three children, to Beulah Boden and Frank E. Punderson. He attended Deerfield Academy and graduated from Middlebury College in 1955. While at Middlebury, Frank was instrumental in establishing the men’s soccer team, was an avid skier and ski-jumper, played drums in a swing band and took flying lessons at the Middlebury airport.
After graduation, Frank enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and flew the F9F-2 fighter jet in the Third Marine Airwing (VMF-311). Frank later returned to Middlebury College to coach the fledgling men’s soccer team. In 1961 Frank married Linda Ide, and together they raised four children: Martha (Graf) of Loma, Colo.; Ebenezer of Weybridge, Vt.; Ingrid (Jackson) of Cornwall, Vt.; and Samuel, of Carrabassett Valley, Maine. 
In 1965 Frank and Linda purchased and renovated a property on Fire Hill in Florence, to make their first home in Vermont. They operated a small inn in Pittsford, Vt., from 1968 to 1971 while Frank established his real estate business in Rutland. Subsequent moves brought them to Weston, Vt.,  Landgrove, Vt., and finally to retirement, where they built their home in Cornwall, Vt.
Frank and Linda settled in at Eastview in Middlebury, Vt., in 2017 where, amongst their wonderful friends and neighbors, Frank lived out his final years. Frank lived his life with vigor, and with a passion for just about everything, including his friends, flying, skiing, golf and soccer, but his greatest love was Linda, their children and their wonderful spouses David Graf, Jill Madden, Woody Jackson and Kate Webber; and grandchildren Asa, Sam and Noah Graf, Dorothy and Harlow Punderson, Ebenezer and Silas Jackson, and Calvin Punderson. His greatest joy was being surrounded by his family, for whom he spent his last few months chronicling his family history.
His family is extremely grateful for the warm, competent and accommodating care received from all who intersected with Frank over the past year and especially in his final days. A joyful celebration of Frank’s life will follow in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations in Frank’s memory can be made to Porter Medical Center or Helen Porter Rehabilitation and Nursing.◊