Frank Mendes Jr.

When looking back over a lifetime, it is sometimes difficult to decide what makes that life noteworthy. What sets one man's life apart? Gives it meaning? Makes it worth remembering? For Frank Mendes Jr., those questions can only be answered by looking at the many roles he filled in the years between his birth in Bakersfield on December 28, 1930 and his peaceful passing in his own home on Michigan Avenue in Modesto on February 26, 2017.

Frank was born to Frank Mendes Sr. and Odette Mendes who had immigrated to the United States from the Azores. They brought with them to this new country a love of the land and a passion for nurturing and growing. This love and passion were the gifts his parents gave Frank, and he spent a lifetime planting, tending and watching the fruits of his labor mature and prosper, enriching the lives of those around him.

Besides raising row crops and almonds, Frank found his true calling in raising game birds. He specialized in the production of pheasants and squab - becoming one of the largest producers of these beautiful birds in the country. He raised and delivered up to 150,000 pheasants annually to gun clubs and gourmet restaurants and markets.

His partner in all of these activities was his wife of almost 40 years, Pamela Satriles Mendes. Frank found in Pam that special person who loved him, worked alongside him and made his personal life and his professional life far richer. In this spirit of abundance, Frank's business, Mendes Game Birds, Inc., prospered and became renowned for the quality of his product and the personal service Frank and Pam provided to all their clients, large and small. They also had time for the "little man" - the person who, for health reasons, needed a source of organic meat long before "organic" was mainstream. These customers were never secondary or treated as "less than". Their needs were honored and, in this way, the business was like family.

In the course of his life as a farmer, Frank was active in many professional organizations including: Squab Producers of California, North American Gamebird Association (NAGA) and California Farm Bureau. In Frank's later years, his greatest joy was found in the time spent with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Their most cherished memories of their beloved grandfather will always be times spent sitting around the family home listening to Frank's many stories and playing on the family farms.

Frank is survived by his wife Pam, his sons Loren Mendes (Sharon), Edward Mendes (Becky), Gilbert Mendes (Joan), Benjamin Mendes and Frank Mendes III, along with 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Candy Childers and his nieces Camellia Anderson and Suzanne Childers.

Services will be held at Lakewood Memorial Park in Hughson, CA. Viewing and visitation will be from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday, March 3rd at Lakewood's Heritage Chapel. The service will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 4th at Lakewood's Riverside Chapel, followed immediately by the graveside service.

In lieu of flowers, please send remembrances to Shelter Cove Community Church, American Heart Association or Community Hospice.

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