Frank Martin Lick was born on August 17th, 1939 in Mount Clemens, Michigan. The eldest in a large family of nine siblings, armed with only an eighth-grade education and a fierce tenacity, Frank left home at the early age of 14. In the mid-1950s (after the Korean War had ended) Frank enlisted in the Marine Corps and rose to the rank of Corporal. After he served, he settled in Santa Barbara, California where he went to work for Washburn Chevrolet and soon moved to Thompson-Fauskee Ford. There, he became assistant parts manager in 1963. In 1964, he bought a service station on State and Mission Street. Determined to succeed, soon after he purchased his station, Frank started a gas war undercutting the competitors to increase his sales. He would require all of his station attendants RUN out to pump gas, check oil, tire pressure, and wash windows. When the bell would ring, it was time to hit the ground running for all employed, including Frank! He then bought a second station on Pueblo and De La Vina Street in SB. A few years later he sold both gas stations and bought a larger and more modern station on Hollister and Turnpike in Goleta.
In 1962, Frank met Ida Dal Vecchio-de la Torre. She and her two children were living in the apartment next door. Within the year, they were married at the courthouse in Ventura and Frank stepped into the role of father to Ida’s children, Beverly (age 15) and Frank (age 6). In 1968 Frank got his real estate license and sold the gas station. It took Frank six months to sell his first house, so hot dogs, pork and beans along with fish sticks were the household staple. Within the next few years while working for MacElhenny, Levy & Co, Frank became one of the top real estate agents in Santa Barbara. In the early ’70s Frank opened his own real estate firm, FML Enterprises, where he built houses, apartment buildings and a family home in Montecito on an acre parcel of the Morton Salt Estate. After a decade of new construction projects (and acquiring 200 acres of lemon orchards) Frank moved on to purchasing and running a retirement home in Santa Maria where he worked until his own retirement in 2010.
Once retired, Frank and Ida moved from Montecito to Mission Canyon—a lovely neighborhood behind the Old Mission in SB. There Frank resided until his death on December 28th, 2021. He leaves behind wife, Ida, step-daughter Beverly Gose (Ed Sr.), stepson Frank de la Torre (Jennifer), grandsons Edward Gose Jr. (Heidi), Donald Gose (Kristen), great-grandchildren (Anthony, Elizabeth, Jameson and Alexis), his surviving siblings, Jimmy, Joy, Johnny and Rebecca and their families.
Frank M. Lick will be remembered as a well-read man who enjoyed a healthy debate and never lost his thirst for educating himself. We will miss his hearty laugh, his sound advice, his interesting quotes, his delivery of latest news reports and informational updates, and his endless historical accounts of life…
To honor his memory, the family asks that you pick up a book about history and enjoy a great read…
