Frank Jean Uriarte October 13, 1939 - March 20, 2021

Frank Jean Uriarte

Frank Jean Uriarte passed at home on Saturday March 20th, after a long battle with cancer. He was 81. Frank was born on Friday the 13^th October 1939, in Baker City Oregon. His father, Santiago Uriarte & mother, Marie Uriarte, raised three children in Ontario, Or.

Frank graduated from Ontario High School in 1957. He worked for Holloway Motors in Ontario for a couple of years. After his parents moved to Boise, he accepted a job at H&F Automatic Transmissions in Boise, where he learned the business. Frank met & started dating Joy Arnold when he was 17 years old, and she was 14. In 1965, they were married. Together they raised a daughter and two sons, as Frank worked at H&F for about 28 years.

In 1986 he started his own business, Franks Transmission Service, with the help of his son Darren, followed by his son Corey, after each had graduated.

Frank learned a strong work ethic at a young age as he worked with his Uncles & family members growing up. His interest in cars started young, as at age 13 he tore down a car on his parents’ front lawn with parts & pieces strung everywhere. His Dad walked home from work that day, saw the parts & said “you’ll never get that back together again”. He drove his Dad to work in that car about 5 days later, with no driver’s license. He was very proud of that accomplishment and never stopped building and enjoying his car projects over the years.

Over the years Frank built many transmissions for people. He also built some for guys who raced cars. They held up well. He was an honest & thorough mechanic always standing behind his work. He worked hard & played hard when he could. Over the years he belonged to a jeep club, a dance & supper club, and a street rod club. For many years he built several street rods for himself and he & Joy enjoyed going to car shows with friends.

Retirement for Frank was a long adjustment, as he found different ways to keep himself busy. One summer he made walking sticks out of willow tree branches, when the heat hit 100 degrees several days in a row. It never bothered him. He spent months rebuilding old cars with his children and loved every minute of it. He also enjoyed repairing many things for his daughter during her house buying years. When his wife needed help repairing furniture projects, he would tell her, “that can’t be fixed” but a few days later, he would present it to her with a smile and a “here you are”. Happiness for him, was staying busy.

Frank enjoyed fishing with friends on his Pontoon boat, camping, four wheeling with friends & family, especially at  Cornucopia. In the last years he enjoyed fishing trips with his son Darren, also going to car shows and the swap meets with sons Corey, and Darren and daughter Chris.

Frank was also a veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard. He is survived by his wife Joy, daughter Chrissy, and sons, Darren & Corey. Also, his niece Tracy Anderson of Az., nephew, Kent Anderson & wife Shawn of Or., Great niece, Amber Anderson of Ut., nephew Jeff Anderson & wife Shannon of Or. , nephew Tony Uriarte & wife April of Wa. , sister-in-law Sireda Tate & husband Joe, brother-in­ law, Roy Arnold & wife Arline of Ca.  Sister-in-law Polly Root of Id., sister-in-law Joy Arnold of Ca. And special friends, Terresa & Terry Ferguson of Id.

He was preceded in death by: His father Santiago, his mother Marie, his brother Sam Uriarte, Stepdad, Angel Uriarte, his stepdad Julian Hormaechea, his nephew Sam Uriarte of Ak. his sister Romona Anderson of Or. and his brother-in-law, Alvin Root, of Id. and brother-in-law, Ken Arnold of Ca.

A private memorial service will be held at 3:00 pm, on Friday, April 9, 2021.

To watch the service, please visit: https://vimeo.com/534973500

To watch Frank’s memorial video tribute, please visit:  https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/6L4JS7PH3FSMY224

The family plans to have a celebration of life at a later date.