James Pierson
Frackelton, MD
1927 - 2012
Medical pioneer and vibrant member of the Westlake
community, James Pierson Frackelton, 85, died peacefully on November 30, 2012
after a brief illness. Jim was born in Flint, Michigan on July 19, 1927, the
only child of Ralph James and Berneda Pierson Frackelton.
He was a graduate of Culver Military Academy of Culver, IN
and served in the US Navy at the end of WWII.
Subsequently, he received a degree in Mathematics from Yale University
in 1949. While pursuing his medical degree at Case Western University Medical
School in Cleveland, in 1954 he met and married Nancy Duncan. After a medical internship,
Jim served a second round of military service as Naval Flight Surgeon at Kaneohe
Bay Naval Flight Station in Honolulu, Hawaii. His first son, David Duncan, was
born.
After the family moved back to settle in Westlake, Ohio, his
second son, Scott Pierson, and third son, James Ralph, were born in quick
succession, presenting all the challenges that three young boys can offer. Nancy
handled the kids while Jim started his medical practice in 1958.
For a brief period of time in 1959, Jim was the only doctor
with a medical practice in Westlake. In the late 1960s, he became chairman of
the Family Practice Department at Fairview General Hospital, where he
established the Family Practice Residency program. He continued to practice
medicine in Westlake for the next 54 years, seeing patients as recently as three
days before his death.
Among his many early interests, in 1959 Jim and Robert
Schull purchased Rattlesnake Island, a 65-acre island in Lake Erie. In 1966,
Jim began the Rattlesnake Island Local Post office, the only
USPS-sanctioned local post operating in the United States. At the time of
its creation, the Local Post provided airmail delivery from the island to the
mainland via Ford Tri Motors airplanes. Jim and Robert sold the island in 1971,
but the local post office continues to this day.
Dr. Frackelton volunteered as the Westlake High School
football team physician, and also founded several companies including Cleveland
Stamp and Coin, the Medical Service Foundation of America, Westlake Supplements
and King James Medical Laboratory. These latter two companies continue to
operate, complementing his medical practice.
In 1976, Jim changed the direction of his medical practice
to focus his growing interest in and clinical research for preventive and
alternative medicine, forming the Preventive Medicine Group. After many years
of studying biochemistry, he began teaching nutrient and detoxification
therapies to alternative-oriented physicians throughout North America. A
founding member, Dr. Frackelton was elected President of the American College
for Advancement in Medicine from 1985-87 and continued to serve as an Advisor
to its Board until several years before his death.
An international expert in preventive medicine, Jim lectured
physicians in North and South America, Europe and Asia. . He wrote a number of
scientific articles, holds two patents on medical subjects, and authored the
books, The Owners Manual for the Human
Body, and Bypassing Bypass (with
Elmer M. Cranton, MD). He was an expert on heavy metal toxicity and its impact
on the development of degenerative diseases.
Over the years, the Preventive Medicine Group expanded, adding
new physicians and services. The Group
and its work will continue to serve as Dr. Frackelton’s legacy by helping
thousands of people regain their health where traditional medicine had not been
successful.
Dr. Frackelton forged a close, 11 year relationship as a
medical advisor to Cleveland industrial giant, Parker Hannifin Corporation,
where he was instrumental in exposing Parker and its employees to the benefits of
addressing the underlying causes of illness rather than just the symptoms. His work
emphasized strengthening the immune system to fight-off or prevent
illness. He recommended an approach
that minimized the use of pharmaceuticals while promoting a more natural
approach to medicine involving proper nutrition, natural supplements, energy
medicine, and heavy metal detoxification.
As a result of his work, Parker became one of only a few companies in
the country to offer a comprehensive preventive and alternative medicine
healthcare benefit to its employees that led to the establishment of a national
network of complementary and alternative medical practitioners serving Parker
employees worldwide.
Jim married Marilyn “Polly” Parrot in 1978. Jim and Polly
were inseparable. Avid sailors and world travelers, Polly and Jim loved to
travel to exotic places and were among the first US citizens to visit the
Peoples Republic of China in 1979. They sailed the Great Lakes in their
sailboat, “Polly”, making regular trips between the Rattlesnake Island Club and
Catawba Island Club where they were members.
After Polly’s death in 2007, Jim continued to practice
medicine, gave lectures on alternative and integrative medicine and travelled
the world with his close friend and travelling companion, Eileen Devoley of
Phoenix, Arizona.
He is survived by his stepson and daughter, Marshall and
Susan Wenger, by his sons James of Spokane, WA, Scott and David of Portland, OR
and by granddaughters, Gillian, Jera and Alexandra and Jennifer Jeanne “JJ”
Wenger. A public memorial service will occur on January 12, 2013 at 2 PM at Jenkins
Funeral Home
2914 Dover Center Road, in Westlake.
The family requests any memorial contributions be made to The American Institute for Complementary Alternative
Medicine, 24700 Center Ridge, Suite 370, Westlake, OH 44145
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