Frank R. Carrillo

Frank Carrillo was born November 11, 1925 in El Paso, Texas, to Sara and Gonzalo Carrillo. His birth name was actually Jose Francisco Carrillo. He had three sisters, Jovita, Felicitas, and Lupe, and two brothers, Charlie and Joe. Lupe and Joe were especially close to Frank throughout his life, always guiding and inspiring him, until passing away in their late sixties. Lupe would often tell Frank es puro wato! , referring to silly family quarrels that frequently happened, and together would always laugh about them. Frank appreciated Joe s quiet and kind character, especially his professional musical talent. This meshed well, with Frank s personality and his love of music, such as the big band orchestras, jazz, and blues. Frank dabbled in art and loved singing to Etta James songs, Louie Armstrong, among many others. He once said that he sang a song in a performance, in his brother s orchestra. He liked to dance the jitterbug in popular Los Angeles clubs, and meeting famous entertainers. His favorite sport was boxing. He was thrilled by matches fought by the likes of Joe Louis and Sonny Liston. Frank also appreciated beautiful cars and maintained the mechanics of all he owned, always keeping them running smoothly and highly polished. He learned areas of commercial art, such as window-dressing and creating designs to make floats. His new skills were exhibited in high-fashion displays of department store windows, as well in children s characters of storybook rhymes, such as Mary Had a Little Lamb , that he shaped into flower floats . These floats drifted in the San Antonio River, flowing in the middle of downtown, in the annual River Walk Parade. Frank s parents experienced the Great Depression in the United States, so he learned about faith and courage at a very early age. He became a hard worker as a boy, helping his parents support the family, with his earnings throwing San Antonio newspapers on doorsteps and doing other odd jobs. Frank moved to Los Angeles when he grew older, and there he worked for Lockheed Aircraft in assembly of airplanes. Subsequently, he trained with an optician, to become a certified lens grinder. His last major career move was working with and teaching electronics, which lasted several years. While living in Los Angeles and before onset of prolonged illness, Frank ran around with pachuco friends, learning their jive talk . They nicknamed him Smiley . He would say, that cars were referred to as tin cans . Frank never used profane language at home or in public. He was a reserved and sophisticated man, dressed in stylish taylor-made suits, and enjoyed hiring pilots to fly him over Los Angeles, in small airplanes. He regularly attended live performances at the Grumman s Chinese Theatre, where he enjoyed musical entertainers, such as watching Gene Kruppa s wild drumming, Cab Calloway sing and dance his famous heidy, heidy, ho.. song, or listening to Al Jolson s popular Mamie song. Frank got married in his later twenties while in Los Angeles to Margaret, and fathered four children, Carolyn, Frank Jr., Linda, Darlene, and the last born named Denise, died shortly after birth. After being treated with sudden pulmonary and spinal illnesses in Los Angeles, he lived between San Antonio, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. In New Mexico, he found a new career with Goodwill Industries, working as an electrical repair technician. His work included retraining and supervision of others, who had become disabled like him. His successes at Goodwill Industries were acknowledged in the Albuquerque newspaper, with a picture of him next to a television he had repaired. He eventually divorced and moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he cared for his aging parents for nearly 35 years. Frank had many different joys. He loved good food, sweets and pastries of all kinds. French and Mexican pastries were the best, as Neapolitan, Eclairs, pan dulce and empanadas de camote . Frank loved several cups of coffee a day, the hotter the better, and especially with a piece of lemon meringue or banana cream pie. He liked to read all types of books, watch the History Channel, or war documentaries. It seemed that no crossword puzzle existed, that Frank couldn t solve. He had different dictionaries handy to learn the expanse of the English language, and of course, fill in the words of his massive crossword puzzles. Frank also had many quirks and funny incidents. When he was writing a note, he spelled LOGQ , which he said represented LOVE . This became an inside joke. When he would tell his closest friends and family members that he loved him, he d say I LOGQ you! and all knew exactly what it meant. He liked reciting Los Angeles slang. When he would take his usual cocktail of different medications, he would jokingly say, I m all lit up like a Christmas tree! Frank was actually allergic to alcohol. He once drank a few sips of beer with his wife, when visiting a park that had low grassy hills. His daughter saw them giggling, as they repeatedly rolled down the hills. He loved long distance driving, especially from Texas to Mexico, visiting small towns and large cities, such as Guadalajara, where family lived and welcomed them. During these trips, Frank would bring a collection of his favorite clothing, to give it away to relatives and poor strangers he met along the way. Frank gave to everyone freely anything he owned, with no thought for himself. He sincerely believed that God always provided what he needed. Frank decided to return to California on December 16, 2011, to the state he never wanted to leave. He loved its sandy beaches and oceans. Soon after arriving, he went into the hospital with high blood pressure and escalating breathing problems. Frank s will to recover was still strong, and accepted different treatments, in the hopes of getting better. No matter the discomfort, he would always thank those attending to him. Frank s tough fight was not enough, against his failing body and affects of escalating pneumonia. On January 3, 2012, God led Frank away from all the chaos of the hospital and the world, and into His heavenly realm of peace and love. Those who knew Frank will remember him as gentle, kind, honest, and having courage to face all of life s challenges. He always said, that death was part of natural life and not to be feared. He saw goodness in everything and everyone, and strongly believed that all in life happened for a special purpose, to learn from mistakes and to help others live a wholesome life. Frank was a radiant human-being, with loving open arms that welcomed all. His life will forever remain in our hearts.