Long-time Santa Barbara and Goleta resident Carl D. Frank passed away at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, following a sudden illness, on December 27, 2013, just nine days short of his 100th birthday. He was born on January 5, 1914, in Walla Walla, Washington, to John David and Elizabeth Frank, recent German immigrants from the Volga region of Russia, and was the first of his family to be born in the United States.
Carl and Katherine “Kaye” Zier were married on August 18, 1935, in Walla Walla, and they raised three children on a small farm on the outskirts of town.
The third of nine children and the eldest son, Carl quit school at age 14 to manage the family’s grocery business due to the illness of his father. He later owned and operated a number of groceries, bakeries and meat markets in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, and was elected President of the Associated Grocers of Washington State in 1956. Following a brief foray into the food distribution business in the mid-1960s, Carl and Kaye moved to Santa Barbara in 1967, where Carl joined his youngest brother Harold Frank at Applied Magnetics Corporation in Goleta, where he worked until his retirement.
He is survived by his wife of 78 years, Katherine Frank of Santa Barbara. He is also survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Paul D. Frank and MaryAnn Frank, son-in-law Neno J. Aiello, grandchildren Suzanne E. Baker, Diane M. Karr, David E. Frank, Jon E. Frank, Robert D. Frank and Kathryn M. Frank, great-grand children Adam D. Ganser, Mollie R . Ganser, Ethan M. Baker and Elisabeth K. Frank, brothers David D. Frank, John W. Frank and Solomon Frank, sister Freda Wilhelm and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his daughter Carlene K. Aiello, his son Carl D. Frank, Jr., grandson John L. Frank, great-grand daughter Emily J. Baker, sisters Elizabeth Dalton, Mollie Shiffman and Katherine Benzel, and brother Harold R. Frank.
To his beloved family, he was the “patriarch” who kept all of them in his thoughts and prayers. Those who knew him will miss his unique sense of humor and the fascinating stories he told of the adventures (and some misadventures) of his youth.
He was a member of the First Congregational Church of Santa Barbara, located at 2101 State Street, where a Memorial Service will be held at 2:00PM on Saturday afternoon, January 18th.
