When Tom passed away, my intention was to have some sort of memorial structure built in his name. Friends, family and business associates made donations to a fund for this purpose.

Brevard County Parks Department was incredibly supportive of my efforts and I worked with them for several months to try to determine a good place for this structure. At the time, I didn't really have the emotional stamina to keep pursuing this project so I, instead, made donations to organizations around the country that just involved donating cash and not putting a lot of thought into the effort.

Where possible, donations will include a plaque that bears Tom's name. Some of the plaques also include this saying "Leave a trail of beautiful memories".

I will continue to look into opportunities to honor Tom both in and out of Brevard County.

Tom Franz Memorial Fund

To date, the following donations have been made in Tom's memory:

• Donation of two Bear Boxes to Grand Teton National Park

• Donation of a personalized brick to the Saginaw Children's Zoo (Tom was born and raised in Saginaw and has many friends and family members up there.)

• Donation of two Bear Boxes to Yellowstone National Park.

• Donated to wfit.org.

  Donations in various amounts have been made to these organizations:

  • Trust for Public Land
  • National Park Foundation
  • Trout Unlimited
  • The Sierra Club
  • Land Trust Alliance
  • Audubon
  • The Conservation Fund
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
  • National Resources Defense Council
  • American Bird Conservancy
  • American Forest Foundation

  
  
  Thanks so much to everyone for the outpouring of love and support.