Frank Ward Culver (May 28, 1897 - December 12, 1955) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and attorney. He played college football for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1917 and 1919 and was selected as an All-American at the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

position in 1917.

Early years

Culver was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1897 and graduated from Detroit Central High School. His father, Charles Culver, was a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 ...

starting in 1914.

University of Michigan

Culver attended the

and played for the Michigan Wolverines under

Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...

in 1917 and 1919. As a sophomore in 1917, he started three games at left tackle, four games at left guard, and one game at right guard. He was selected by Paul Purman as a first-team guard, and by Jack Veiock as a second-team guard, on the

1917 College Football All-America Team The 1917 College Football All-America team consists of American football players selected to the College Football All-America Teams selected by various organizations in 1917. The selections were affected by the First World War. The Walter Camp Foot ...

. In January 1918, Culver enlisted in a U.S. Navy auxiliary unit organized at the university. He served on the USS ''Louisville''. After the war, Culver returned to Michigan. In 1919, he started one game at guard and three games at center.

Legal career

Culver graduated from the

in 1920 and studied law at

Detroit College of Law The Michigan State University College of Law (Michigan State Law or MSU Law) is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the fi ...

. In 1925, he joined the prosecutor's office in Detroit. He also taught criminal law at

. In 1928, he was named the chief assistant to Wayne County prosecutor James E. Chenot. At age 31, he was the youngest man to hold the chief assistant prosecutor's job in Wayne County. He resigned from the prosecutor's office in 1931 to go into private practice.

Family

He was married to Christine Murkett. They had four sons, Frank Ward Jr. (born c. 1926), Christopher (born c. 1927), Philip (born 1932), and John (born c. 1935).

Death

In December 1955, Culver collapsed and died on the witness stand in a Detroit courtroom while testifying in a matter connected to the Dodge estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culver, Frank 1955 deaths American football guards American football tackles Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan lawyers University of Michigan alumni Players of American football from Detroit 1897 births 20th-century American lawyers Central High School (Detroit) alumni