Frank Lawrence Garbarino

Born on July 23, 1936 Frank went to be with our Lord on Sept 29, 2016 after a hard fought battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Gayle (Starkey) Garbarino, daughter Loree Daniele Jones, and her husband Michael Jones, granddaughter, Courtney Daniele Woods and her husband Michael Woods III, grandson Derek Michael Jones, one great grandchild Connor Lawrence Woods, (Frank’s namesake) all of Fresno, and two sisters Angie Qualls of Sanger & Venus Morandi of Fresno, a large extended family and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Carl Garbarino and Teresa Louise Maglio, brothers Felix, John & Fred Garbarino and sisters Annie Garbarino Cardoza and Eva Cotner.

He was born at home in a farm house located on the corner of Frankwood and Tivy Valley Road in the Sanger river-bottom . The house still stands today. He often drove his family past the home, on trips home from the river, to share where he started out in life.

His parents chose the perfect name for him, “Frank”, because he was known for being perfectly “FRANK” about his opinion of anyone or any subject. He was an amazing man of integrity, honesty, loyalty and trustworthiness. He often said “My word is my bond, you can take it to the bank”, He meant it and you could.

He was generous to a fault, often buying dinner and drinks for friends and relatives and even casual acquaintances. He once literally gave the shirt off his back to a seemingly homeless man he encountered when he was leaving a lounge

He loved his home bar, he had so much fun decorating it with items from Kirklands….he was not one who enjoyed shopping, so it was it was so much fun to see him enjoying it so much! He made numerous trips even without Gayle to get this or that, that he needed to finish the “look”! He loved sharing a cocktail, a beer, or a glass of wine with friends and family who dropped by and who rarely could get away after JUST ONE.

He was always aware of what was happening in the neighborhood and who was passing by on McCall Avenue in front of our home. One Saturday morning he noticed a car passing by going North and then South several times throughout the day. Just before 8 pm, he decided to rush over to Fran’s Market to buy a lotto ticket, before the sales closed. He noticed that same car, and when an elderly lady emerged seeming confused, he offered to help. She said she was lost and needed to call her son, but couldn’t remember his number, Frank somehow found the number and called, they had been looking for her all day, she lived in the tower district some 16 miles away, and had gone to an early hair appointment and never returned home. They asked Frank to stay with her till they drove across town to pick her up, which he gladly did. The next day we were working in the yard together, and a car drove up with a woman and man in it…they handed us a basket of dried fruits nicely gift packaged, and a card underneath. They were the son and daughter of the elderly woman and wanted to thank him for his kind act the night before, they said her gas tank was on empty and no telling what might have happened to her if he had not offered assistance. They said they had suspected the beginning of Alzheimer’s, and now had taken her keys away. I started to open the card and they said to wait until they left…inside was a very nice handwritten Thank you note, along with two $100 bills. He would have returned the money but had no way of finding them.

He found great pleasure on many occasions, paying for a pound of bacon for a little old lady in front of him at the supermarket, who had told the clerk to put it back because she couldn’t afford it, or other grocery items a child was asking for and the grandmother couldn’t afford until “next time”. He would ask the clerk to add it to his tag.

He often gave rides to strangers in need with a flat tire, out of gas or just walking because they had no car, and thankfully the

Lord was with him. He prided himself in doing good deeds for family, friends, neighbors and strangers. He visited friends and relatives in the hospital and often gave the men a shave and haircut , took them Sees candy, he said, to give to the nurses so they would receive better treatment. He helped one nephew get his patent idea going, and layed out the patio and landscape plan for another. He would pick extra vegetables from his garden and fruit from his orchard and take it to family and friends and also to the Poverello House in Fresno. He always picked the oranges and grapefruit and gave bags to friends and family. Always eager to lend a hand in whatever capacity he could.

One of his favorite sayings was: “ What I do is between me and God, and what they do in return is between them and God.”

Some of Frank’s favorite quotes were: “ Actions speak louder than words” ; “ Show me, don’t tell me!” ;

“Time takes care of everything- the good and even the bad” ; and “ The sun will come out tomorrow” .

Frank wore many hats during his 80 years of life: He ran the family dairy at the age of 16 when his older brother, Fred left for the Army. When Fred returned, he went to work at the cotton gin while farming with his brothers , completed barber college and worked as a barber on Kings Canyon Rd across from the fairgrounds, where he met Norm Shamshoian a dear friend of 60 years. He was drafted into the Army in 1961 where he was proud to have attained an E5 ranking in just 13 months while serving in Korea on the 38th parallel . When he was discharged from the Army he worked as a barber again at the Fresno Hotel. He later worked in Construction helping to build a highway in Clements California. He later purchased a cocktail lounge called the Foursome Club on Clovis and Kings Canyon Rd, where he met and later married the love of his life Gayle, on May 31st 1968.

Three months prior to their marriage they were involved in a head on collision in which Frank’s feet went through the floorboard of the car and through the soles of his shoes. He had a scar on his leg from the rescue workers beginning to cut his legs off to get him out, believing him to be dead until he hollered. He had a severe whip lash, numerous broken bones, including his ribs, pelvis, back and his left hip and femur. He was not expected to live, but the Lord was with him and he survived. He was told he wouln’t walk again, but he did!!

Frank and Gayle received the greatest blessing of their lives with the birth of their only daughter, Loree in November 1968. She was a preemie, weighing only 4 lbs and 16 inches long… her tiny body fit right in the palm of his hand and it was love at first sight. Since he was disabled from the wreck, he took Loree with him everywhere and they shared a very special bond that lasted through his lifetime and will carry on into eternity.

Frank treasured family above all else, and worked hard to recover from the wreck, because he took the responsibility of supporting them very seriously. He grew watermelons, sub-leased the pasture for cattle to help make ends meet. He went to work for a grade school/ high school friend, as a sub contractor building homes, then for another friend building apartments and was finally able to buy their first home a 750 sq ft house on five acres of cherries. He and Gayle raised the cherries and picked them every May to pay the property taxes.

He decided to go out on his own and built two speck houses, He remodeled at least 8 houses, which cleared enough profit to purchase a larger home closer to town and Gayle’s work at the telephone company. It was about 1800 sq ft. on a commercial half acre and they were delighted to find it also had a swimming pool. Frank later made the double car garage and breezeway into a large game room/bar increasing it to 2200 sq ft, and he enjoyed entertaining many friends over the 23 years we lived there.

In 1994 Loree was carrying his first grandchild and he was diagnosed with a myxoma tumor in his heart. It was so rare that Frank was the first person to be diagnosed while still living, they were only found in autopsies. They made 280 slides of his surgery and taught medical students from them. His surgery was featured on the Operation Channel that was on television during that time. Again, Frank was not expected to survive. We were at the hospital all choked up about the news, and Frank said “I just wanted to live to see my first grandchild” we had seen the ultrasound and couldn’t tell her heart from her head…it looked like a little alien to him. He and Loree and Gayle were crying because of the diagnosis, and Gayle said “you will see her in heaven” and Frank said “ BUT SHE WAS SOOOO UGLY !!!”We all cracked up at that point, and it kind of broke the mood for a while. Against all odds, Frank once again survived the surgery…………..the Lord was with him. That granddaughter, Courtney was born in September, and was followed five years later by her brother Derek. Frank spent a lot of time with them at the ranch, or an impromptu trip up to the river , or a trip over to the coast. He loved spending time on his boat at Pine Flat and Shaver Lake with them, and he also liked to take the kids up to Shaver and Dinky for a day of picnics, campfires and playing on the shore. Frank wanted to share the childhood he had with his grandchildren and wanted to move into his mother’s small house of 750 square feet. He began remodeling , adding a large master bedroom and extending the living room out 16 feet…knocking out all the inner walls and modernizing with all new oak kitchen. It became an 1850 sq ft home, then he added a 2200 sq ft covered patio for entertaining his friends and family…he kept the 3 ½ acre ranch as neat as Better Homes and Gardens working every morning from 5 to about 130 resting then going back to water this or spray off that.

He bought a pony that pulled a cart for rides with the children, then later horses for them to ride. He had as many as 30 goats at one time, beginning with just two baby goats he bought for the grandchildren. He and Gayle raised a dozen baby chicks three different times, and the children loved “picking eggs”, we had rabbits for a short time, and then acquired a miniature donkey named Ginny, that followed him around the pasture as he worked and misses him terribly.

This past year he found a brindle boxer on Craigslist named Reeses….we call her Reeses Pieces..a fitting name for her coloring. This was a first for Frank…he took her in his little gas trail blazer that he used for spraying and moving sprinklers in the pasture. He would laugh and tell how she sat on the seat and never jumped off…when he got off to do something, she would move over to his spot…then refused to move over because her seat was hot from the sun. If she didn’t think the

ride was long enough she refused to get down……..so he would give her a ride down McCall to the ditch bank and ride down about 3 miles round trip, and when they returned she would jump right off and go to her bed, SATISFIED! Reeses always gets up from her bed when anyone walks out of the house onto the patio. She was almost irritating during the two months Frank was home ill, she wanted to be petted every time Loree or Gayle were on the patio. But Thursday morning, September 29th, Gayle went out for a cigarette at 5 am., then went to get a cup of coffee and returned to the patio at 530, had a cigarette and cup of coffee and then Loree came out, they sat there awhile, then Gayle noticed that Reeses had not gotten up any of those times. She said something is wrong with Reeses, she didn’t get up this morning…Loree went over to check her and she slowly rolled over for a tummy rub, but not excited like normal…we decided she was depressed because Frank hadn’t been on the patio for almost a full month, he was bedridden after his Sept 2nd surgery. Frank passed away at 820 that morning….then they realized why she was so depressed earlier that morning. She sensed he was going, but couldn’t let us know.

Our nightmare began on July 28th, Frank rolled over in bed and caught his foot in the sheet…he forced it and he couldn’t move…gradually after several hours, he was finally able to get up with severe pain…he went for an x-ray. We were waiting to

hear if he needed a brace or a cast, when the doctor came in and said they couldn’t see it too well, they needed a Cat Scan. We went for the scan and when he met us afterward, the doctor said “ you have bone cancer” a very rare, very aggressive small cell Neuro endocrine Carcinomas. Neuro endocrine tumors are rare, accounting for less than one percent of all malignant disorders in the United States. we were shocked and in disbelief. The cancer was in every location that had been broken in that wreck in 1968. They wanted to do surgery to strengthen it with a pin in the femur…Frank didn’t want to be hospitalized for what time he had left. There is no cure, and the chemo they would treat him with would maybe prolong life weeks to possibly 3 months, he would go in three days in a row for treatment with three different chemo drugs, it would make him extremely ill, cause convulsions and probable blood transfusions, so it was not too hard to say NO. He spent the first month enjoying his home and patio with the help of a walker and wheelchair, feeling pretty healthy and eating a healthy diet, but on August 30th he reached for a venetian blinds cord that was way up high….his femur gave way and he fell., his nephew Rocky caught him and kept him from hitting the floor, Rocky ended up under him, and was able to get him to the couch. He was taken that night to emergency Fresno VA and transported to Palo Alto for surgery. The surgery was 12 hours long after numerous x-rays and tests for 3 days leadingup to it…it was just too much, he said if he was only fighting one, it would be a fight of his life at 80, but with both, it was just more than he could handle. We wanted a miracle healing, but he said he fought hard, and asked the Lord for healing and he believed that this time the answer was NO. He said, He has given us two BIG miracles. He saved me from the wreck when I wasn’t expected to make it, and again with my heart, he gave us 22 more years. I was upset, and said NO, I want one more miracle ! I said , “ When you’re resting and sleeping, are you talking to the Lord? And he said yes, I have thanked him for all of his blessings, for our wonderful 48 years of marriage, for Loree who has been a blessing to us every day of her life, and for Courtney and Derek and little Connor. For the blessing of our home, and what he helped me to do here so I could leave you a beautiful home to take care of you for the rest of your life, and the blessings of our whole family and all we have been able to enjoy together. I thank Him for all of it. And I thank him for Rocky being able to build his place behind us so he can watch over you and help you with the ranch. I finally told Frank, I will never be okay with losing you, even if you live to be 150, but I want you to know that I am so proud of how hard you have fought to live, and when you and the Lord decide it is time, I promise to accept it. This place is so full of memories, and right now they are very sad memories, but I promise you I

will work to make them happy memories, but it will take time. He thanked me and smiled.

Frank and I often shared that we were “soulmates” that God had chosen for each other. We were Frank & Gayle, Mom & Dad, MeMe & Papa, and finally Great MeMe & Papa. I will love and miss him forever. His warm embrace, his smile, his laugh, his wit and the wonderful generous man that he was. He was loved by so many…even the animals recognized the worth of this AMAZING MAN…HE WAS ONE IN A MILLION !!!

You are home with the Lord in heaven now, REST IN PEACE,

“ FRANK LAWRENCE GARBARINO”

I know that the Lord welcomed you home, saying “JOB WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT. “

I will hold you in my heart, until I can hold you in heaven.

Your loving wife,

Gayle