Frank Basile

Frank grew up in Aliquippa, PA. He graduated from Aliquippa High School in 1953. After high school he attended the University of Pittsburgh and earned his degree in civil engineering. Being from an immigrant family, he worked several interesting jobs to help put himself through college; he worked at Sears-Roebuck in Chicago, Smith and Wesson gun manufacturers, J & L Steel Mill in Aliquippa, a horse stable, and a railroad company during his summers. He enlisted in the US Navy and was an officer in the Corps of Civil Engineers stationed in Rhode Island. Upon leaving the Navy he worked for Michael Baker, a civil engineering firm, and helped plan, design, and construct several bridges and the U.S. Interstate in Ohio. In 1964 he moved from Pennsylvania to California, to work for the Calif. Dept. of Transportation (Caltrans). He later became Assistant City Engineer with the City of Claremont and the Public Works Director/City Engineer for the City of San Dimas where he retired from after 24 years of service.

Frank was married to Dolores Zajac in 1966. They were happily married for 50 years. They enjoyed spending time strolling along the beaches and most recently playing at the casinos every week. Frank enjoyed building things and was known to all children in any neighborhood he lived in as THE person who could fix anything and had a secret stash of lollipops to hand out! He was known to strike up a conversation with anyone he was near. He had the special gift of making people smile and enjoy the art of conversation and storytelling. He made a lasting impression on all he met.

Frank is survived by his spouse Dolores Zajac Basile of Aliquippa, PA/Irvine, CA; daughters Bernadette Basile of Irvine, CA and Jennifer (Craig) Di Bias of Yorba Linda, CA; his brothers James Basile of Beaumont; Albert (Virginia) Basile of Palmdale; his sisters Carmella Granat of Beaumont; Anne (Jerry) Spinelli of Beaumont; Louise Valdez of Beaumont. His grandchildren Emily, Joseph, Michael; and his nieces and nephews and other relatives.

A memorial service will be held at Draper Mortuary, 811 N. Mountain Avenue, Ontario, CA, 91762 on Tuesday, June 21, at 1:00 pm. The family will be greeting friends and relatives to celebrate his life and memory. Burial will follow at Bellevue Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to The Alzheimer’s Organization at www.alz.org or The American Diabetes Association at www.diabetes.org Condolences may be left on Frank Basile’s online guest book (copy and paste in address bar) http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Frank-Basile&lc=4515&pid=180331046&mid=6969199&locale=en_US