Martin S. "Marty" Frant

Martin S. Frant passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, October 1, at the age of 96, surrounded by family.

Marty was born in Brooklyn, NY to Henrietta and Alexander Goldhirsch. During WWII, he served in an artillery unit in Patton’s Third Army. As the war ended, he worked with Army Intelligence, developing a photographic technique for copying and preserving sensitive Nazi documents. Marty returned home to major in Chemistry at Brooklyn College and, in 1948, he

married Shirley Geschwind, the love of his life. He attended graduate school at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, where Marty and Shirley served as house parents at the Bellefaire Jewish Children’s Bureau for at-risk girls. After receiving his PhD in Chemistry, Marty and Shirley moved to Ossining, NY, where their children Barbara and Howard were born. After spending several years in Harrisburg, PA, they moved to Newton, MA in 1963.

Marty joined the research team at Orion Research in Cambridge, where he was widely respected as an inventor, problem solver, mentor and leader. His research centered on ion-selective electrodes for detecting specific chemicals in solution, and he invented one widely used for measuring fluoride in water. He had more than 30 patents to his name, including one for the active ingredient in many household disinfectant sprays, and he authored numerous scientific papers in the fields of analytical and electro-chemistry. His later work included a collaboration with his son-in-law to send a chemical laboratory to Mars on NASA’s Phoenix mission. Marty received numerous honors and awards from the scientific community, including being named a Fellow of the American Academy of Science.

Marty was a “mensch”: extraordinarily kind and patient, and totally devoted to his family. He made friends easily and was universally liked and admired. He enjoyed photography, bread-baking, and wine-tasting, and he loved classical and folk music. Shirley and Marty enjoyed the outdoors, particularly their annual vacations at the AMC’s Three Mile Island camp in Lake Winnipesaukee.

Marty’s beloved Shirley passed away in 2018, shortly after their 70th wedding anniversary. His sister, Annette Ehrlich, died in 2020. He is survived by his daughter, Barbara Hecht (Michael) of Weston; son Howard Frant of Andover; granddaughter Elizabeth Hecht of Austin, TX; grandson

Alexander Hecht (Allison Rosania) of North Reading; and his great granddaughter, Molly Rosania Hecht.

Tributes in memory of Martin Frant may be sent to a charity of your choice or: The Electrochemical Society, www.electrochem.org or The Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org