Service Details

A rosary and mass will be held at St, Michael’s Catholic Church - 5882 N. Ashley Lane in Stockton, CA on Friday, December 13, at 10 AM.

The Story

After a long and full life, Frank died peacefully at home surrounded by his family at the age of 84. He was born in 1935 in the Azores on the island of Faial to Francisco and Rosa Carlos. Life was difficult for Frank and his family on the island, especially during his earliest years. When he was 4 years old his mother, Rosa, died leaving his father to raise 6 children, the oldest 10 and the youngest only 2 weeks. His oldest sister Maria, only 10 years old at the time, did her best to step in and fill the void left by their mother.

After the volcanic eruption of 1958 that devastated the island, Frank leapt at the opportunity to immigrate to the United States created by the Azorean Refugee Act. In 1959, at the age of 24, Frank started a new chapter in his life setting roots in California.

In 1960, soon after getting settled, he convinced a young woman, Hilda Vargas, to marry him. They were married at St Elizabeth’s Catholic Church in Sacramento. Hilda had also immigrated to California just months before him. They already knew one another well. Hilda had grown up just up the road from Frank in the same village of Pedro Miguel.

After their marriage, Frank and Hilda lived in Auburn, CA where Frank worked at a lumber mill. By 1963, they were tired of the many long weekend drives from the Sierra foothills to visit Hilda’s parents in Pleasanton. On their way back home to Auburn, Hilda spotted a telephone booth in Stockton. Frank pulled over so Hilda could look up addresses for cabinet shops. They drove to the nearest address with their then 2 year old daughter, Elda, in tow. Frank was hired on the spot and he started his new job the very next day and the young family moved to Stockton.

In 1964, Frank and Hilda bought the home they would live in for the rest of their lives and raise 4 children. Years later, Frank remodeled and expanded that home, doing most of the work himself, mainly to have more room for their growing family but also to create a space to host celebrations for their large extended family.

In Stockton, Frank worked as a skilled cabinet maker for various companies and in 1969 opened his own business, Stockton Cabinet Shop, with his brother-in-law Joe Silveira. Along with the cabinet shop, Frank also bought property around Stockton and built or remodeled several rental homes. Frank and Hilda traveled extensively including motorhome camping with a caravan of family, several cruises and made return trips to the Azores.

He is preceded in death by his parents, a son lost early in pregnancy, and his brother José. He is survived by his wife Hilda, who due to Frank’s poor health was also his devoted care giver for the last 10 years of his life, and by his four children Elda (Al) Garcia, Rose Marie (Dean) Kinnee, Dianne, and Gary (Christina), his grandchildren Craig, Renee, Hailey and Francisco, his sisters Maria and Rosa, and brothers Tony and Jesse. Frank also leaves many nieces, nephews, and countless cousins in the United States, Canada and the Azores.