Judge Frank Eppes was born on November 28, 1922. He was the youngest son of Vena Adams and James Frank Eppes. His father was a lawyer in Greenville. Judge Eppes attended the University of South Carolina before the war and played freshman football. He was drafted in 1943 and entered the United States Army Air Force where he served in England during World War II and after the war in Switzerland.
He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1950. While there, he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, Blue Key, and the Euphradian Literary Society. In 1949, while still in college, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. He served there until 1962. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Medical University of South Carolina for ten years. He was Chairman of the South Carolina House Committee on Municipal, Military and Public Affairs. In 1962, he was elected resident judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes Greenville and Pickens counties. He served in that position from 1962 until 1985, holding court in each circuit in the state at least twice. He loved traveling across South Carolina, holding court and seeing his many friends. During that period, he served two terms as President of the South Carolina Trial Judges Association. In 1985, he retired in order to run for governor. Thereafter, he returned to the service of the state. From 1985 until 2000, he continued to work throughout the state as a circuit judge sitting by special designation. For over a decade, he was an active jockey and crowdpleaser at the Aiken Triple Crown Harness Races in Aiken, South Carolina.
He is survived by his sons, Frank and John, his daughters, Besty and Martha Cary, his wife Frankie, and seven grandchildren.