Franklin LaVerne Troost was born July 19, 1897 to Peter and Hulda Troost in Niles, Michigan. He graduated from Niles High School in 1914 and he served in the United States Navy from 1914 to 1918 during World War I with the Atlantic Fleet, attending the United States Naval Academy.

He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1928 and interned at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing. Around 1930, after his internship, Dr. Troost began his private medical practice in Holt. He succeeded Dr. Edward P. North as Holt’s local physician after his death in 1930.

From 1930 to 1933, Troost’s practice was in a rental space located in what is now the parking lot of the Hitchens Building. An old house, once the Green family farm house, once stood on the site. It was moved brick-by-brick in 1933 by owner Dr. Seth Jones of Lansing to Keller Road where it became the longtime home of the Ribby family until its current use as the headquarters of Moore-Trosper Construction.

Dr. Troost moved his practice in 1933 and continued in Holt for more than 40 years. In addition to his duties as a practicing physician, Dr. Troost also made house calls and was a caring and respected figure for Holt’s families. He delivered thousands of babies in Holt; most of those in home deliveries until 1938.

His practice operated from a home on Holt Road, the second house west of Chestnut Street on the south side of the road into the 1940s and 1950s.

Dr. Troost built his home in 1937 on Holt Road - a red brick two-story colonial at the southwest corner of Holt Road and Maple Street. He remained in the home for the rest of his life. It still stands as a private residence.

He was a member of the Ingham County Medical Society, the American Academy of General Practice, and the Buck Reasoner Post #238 American Legion of Holt. He was once president of the Ingham County Medical Society, and once a delegate to the Michigan State Medical Society House of Delegates. In the 1950s, Troost served on the Delhi Township Board of Trustees.

In 1965, Dr. Troost was named Michigan’s Outstanding Physician by the Michigan State Medical Society.

Troost built the Holt Medical Center along with a team of other doctors, including dentist Dr. Edward Jennings, on Holt Road in the 1960s. The building functioned as the Holt Family Practice into the 2010s and is today used for other commercial purposes. It is located just opposite his home near Maple Street.

From 1938 to 1972, Dr. Troost was the team physician for the Holt High School football team. In 1972, he retired his regular practice and as the team physician. The same year, the Holt High School football complex was improved and expanded. Upon his retirement, the football field was named in his honor as the “Franklin L. Troost Field.” Over 1,000 people attended the reception for the naming of the field. After retirement, Dr. Troost still cared for patients in nursing facilities in the area.

Dr. Franklin Troost died January 8, 1990 and is buried in Maple Ridge Cemetery alongside his wife Mabel, who died in 1984.