Frank DeMartino

Frank DeMartino, 96, died Sunday, February 6, 2011 at his home in Anza, California.Services for Frank are pending.Obituary for Frank DeMartino / Died February 6, 2011Frank DeMartino died on Sunday at the age of ninety-six. Frank wasfamiliar to many people in Anza as a longtime resident of forty-sixyears and as the broker of DeMartino Realty. He participated in manylocal community functions and received many honors, including Citizenof the Year, awarded by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors andthe Anza Valley Outlook.Frank moved to Anza in 1965 after the Watts riots came dangerouslyclose to his real estate office in Los Angeles’ View Park, promptingFrank to look for another location outside of L.A.. He decided uponthe beautiful Anza Valley and moved his real estate business intoAnza’s first post office building on Highway 371, where it remained.His beloved wife, Kay, died twenty years ago after many years ofrunning the High Country Tree Nursery.For sixteen years, Frank volunteered and worked with the first AnzaVolunteer Fire Department. He was responsible for driving the firstambulance down the hill. He served as the Grand Marshall in the AnzaDays Parade, as the Honorary Mayor and as an active member of theChamber of Commerce. He was a founding member of the Anza Lions Club,as well as its first president. He put together Anza’s first phonebook, helped start the Anza School fund, and served as the presidentof the Anza Co-op for four years, during which he helped to establishan electric contract between Anza and Arizona.Throughout his years in Anza, his love for his community neverdiminished, generously giving of his time and resources to residentsand passersby alike. He attended Hamilton High School football gamesand community functions, passed out maps and phone books at his officeand patronized the local restaurants, including his daily cheeseburgerat the Dairy Queen (ready for him promptly at eleven a.m.).At ninety-six, he still opened his office seven days a week andcontinued to pursue his love for golf and gadgets. On Sunday, withouta day of sickness, he died suddenly while watching the Superbowl. Heis survived by his daughter, Nancy McCullough; his son, LouisDeMartino, his granddaughter, Katherine Rasmussen, and hisgreat-grandson, Christopher Rasmussen.