Lloyd Nelson Hightower, a founding member of the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA), passed away July 11 in Santa Rosa, Calif, at the age of 88. A native of Oakland, Calif., Hightower served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, Northern Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war he graduated from the Rudolf Schaeffer School of Design and worked as a designer at W & J Sloane in San Francisco, Calif.

  In 1956 he and his wife Dorothy founded their own gallery, Prints Etc., that became a respected custom-frame shop in Northern California. Hightower was innovative in applying international style aesthetic and museum standards to picture framing.

  Hightower is survived by his brother-in-law Ed Plowden and his nephew Warner Plowden.