Francis Davis Millet, the legendary coach at Milton Academy, died on Wednesday. He had celebrated his one hundredth birthday in May.
Millet was perhaps the last person who could claim an intimate, continuous involvement with squash since the Hoover Administration. He started playing in 1931 in the eighth grade at Middlesex School. He continued to play at Harvard (class of 1940) and then in the Boston leagues, winning his last official league match in 2006. He started teaching Latin at Milton in 1942 and lived on campus for the rest of his life.
In 1964 Millet launched Milton’s squash program: his teams won 427 matches and ended with a .703 winning percentage. Renowned for good sportsmanship, the Mustangs went undefeated five times, had thirty-five winning seasons, captured three New England titles and produced more than two dozen college team captains. He retired from coaching full-time in 2007, though he continued to preside over the program, including its alumni squash event, the FDM. To three generations of Old Miltonians, Frank Millet was the kindest man they would ever know.
Ten years ago, the New England Junior Championship Tour event was named after Millet. The tournament is this weekend at Harvard University.
