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On Saturday night, February 3, 2024, our beloved Isidro Francisco Garcia passed at the age of eighty-one. Isidro was also known as Frank, Dad, Abuelito, Junior, Carnal, Tío, Primo, Amigo, and an all-around good guy, as he signed his emails to familia.
Isidro was born in 1942 to Emmia Johnson Garcia and Ysidro Garcia, in Alamogordo, New Mexico where he grew up in the neighborhood known as Chihuahuita. In his youth, Junior distinguished himself playing hulasos, captaining the high school football team, and inventing peanut butter pranks.
He attended Dudley Elementary School and graduated from Alamogordo Senior High School in 1960.
He served in the army in Camp Zama, Japan which is where he fell in love with Fannie Vanderford of the Women’s Army Corps on a blind date. They married in 1967 in Sunnyvale, California. Fannie says, “He was the greatest love of my life.”
Frank and Fannie settled on Moonbeam Way in Milpitas, California. Frank cherished memories of living with Fannie in the yellow house on the corner and raising their two daughters together. He loved taking his kids on early Saturday morning bike rides where they fed peanuts to ground squirrels and hooted at the owl in the bell tower of St. John’s Catholic Church. On Saturday nights, the family would often spend time dancing in the living room to Herb Alpert with the neighbors. Frank added lots of cariño, zest, and practical jokes to neighborhood life with the Brunofskis, Gonzalezes, Forsyths, Smails, and Blandfords, among many others. In 1975, he developed his now-famous breakfast burrito recipe, and he showed his love by showering family and friends with burritos whenever he made a fresh batch. This breakfast burrito practice may be his most impactful legacy.
Abuelito adored his two granddaughters, Vivi and Harmony, children of Cindy. He would take them on long walks with big bags of birdseed, dog biscuits, and apple slices so that they could feed the birds, dogs, and nearby mules. They often loudly sang “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” along the way.
As a devoted Catholic, Frank cared deeply for his community. Wherever he lived, Frank was always concerned about people in need. Over the years, he spent many Saturdays delivering food to farmworkers with friends Carlos Castillo and Roberto Sepulveda.
Frank was enormously proud to have been a satellite tracker in his career. He worked at the Satellite Test Center, known as the “Blue Cube” in Sunnyvale which also supported the shuttle program. He was a skywatcher.
He is survived by his wife Fannie Garcia of Manteca, CA. Children, Cindy Garcia of St. Paul, MN and Amy Garcia of Manteca, CA. Granddaughters, Octavia Garcia and Harmony Garcia.
He was the brother of the late Michael Garcia (Shirley), Stella Malone (Luis), Robert Garcia (Maria-Helena), Alfred Garcia (Ramona) and sister Mary Lou Garcia. He is survived by his brother Joe Garcia (Judy) of San Jose, CA, Helen Flores (late Tino Flores) of Alamogordo, NM, Virginia Leclerc (Chuck) of Bradenton, FL, Ralph Garcia (Stella) of Plano, TX, Donna Dickey (Dennis) of Las Cruces, NM, and Jo Ann Dryer (Truman) of Alamogordo, NM.
A rosary will be recited at 10:30 am, followed by a memorial Mass at 11am on April 12, 2024 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Manteca, CA.
