Frank T. Eureste

Frank T. Eureste, 82, of Mitchell, Nebraska, died Thursday, August 11, 2022, at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado, surrounded by his family.  A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, August 18, 2022, at Templo Fuente De Vida Church, 1020 E 8th Street in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, with Pastor Randy Brotzman officiating.  Interment will follow at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Scottsbluff. The service will be livestreamed and recorded to Frank’s obituary page viewable at www.reverencefuneralparlor.com.  Memorials may be made to the Chuck Wagon Church.

Frank was born May 21, 1940, in Maxwell, Texas, to Jose and Alejandra (Tobias) Eureste. His education went as far as seventh grade.  He was told while in seventh grade he knew enough to advance to the eighth grade early.  He attended for two weeks and then quit.  Frank figured he knew enough to get by in life.  He spent his teenage years working in cotton fields and husking corn.

He enjoyed baseball.  Frank said one day he was approached by a school coach to play for the team.  He told them he didn’t attend school anymore.  They said they wouldn’t tell anyone, and he became the team pitcher.

Frank met the love of his life in Paducah, Texas.  He was nineteen years old when an old co-worker by the name of Tony Morales asked Frank and his brother, Joe, to stand in his upcoming wedding. He was introduced to the bridesmaids when he showed up at the wedding.  He turned to Tony, pointed to the bride’s sister, and said, “I want her.”  A year later Alice would become his wife when they married on December 10, 1959.

The couple moved to Nebraska in 1962.  Frank was a hard worker and a good provider to his family.  He never complained about anything, but with six daughters, no one probably heard him anyway.

There was nothing Frank couldn’t build or fix and if he didn’t know how to do it, he would always say, “I’m going to dream about how to do it.” He would wake up in the morning with a plan and get it done.

His younger years included hauling hay bales for Rueben Reisig and seasonal work for Western Sugar.  He worked for Eddie and Tom Tomoi in 1965 grinding alfalfa and in 1969 he began working as a janitor for Kramer’s Pontiac-Cadillac.  He later started employment with Scottsbluff Body & Paint in 1980, learning the craft of painting automobiles.

Alice was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 and Frank took a leave of absence from his job to care for her during her last months of life.  He stayed at her side until she took her final breath.  Their marriage lasted forty years.

Frank said he was not the kind of man who did well being alone.  He needed a companion in his life to come home to and he married Candelaria Bravo in July 2000.  Together they would work on wood crafting projects. He would build and she would decorate.

Frank loved to stay busy, whether it be wood working, gardening, fishing, chopping wood or spending time with his family.

The year he turned 75 he requested to have a big celebration with family and friends.  He said it wouldn’t do any good to have people tell stories about him after he died if he wasn’t around to hear them.  He had a great day.

Frank is survived by his loving daughters, Betty Gomez (Al), Mary Novakowski (Jerry), JoAnn Eureste (Eddie Orozco), Irene Guerrero (Anthony), Peggy Carrizales (Margarito), Angela Sanchez (Gilbert), and Lissa Eureste (Andrea Bruckner); sixteen grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; brothers, Joe Eureste (Gloria) and Daniel Eureste (Mary); sisters, Mary Rodriguez (Ted), Daria Loera, and Frances Lucio (Stephen); along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Greeting him joyfully in Heaven on August 11th, were his wife, Alice; parents, Jose and Alejandra; sisters, Teresa Rubio and Susie Rodriguez; and granddaughter, Heather Guerrero.

We, as his daughters, remember a man who made it possible to have a mom who could stay home to raise us.  A man who would give all he had if someone needed it. A man who prayed with us and for us.  We know you’re truly happy now. Tell Mom we love her.