|
Racer Mall
Richard Parks
Oilstick Home
Obit & Illness Page
This is updated as soon as I have information. Evey
Boat Racing Information
Gone Racin' Bulletin Board
POBB or BLOG is here...
|
|
Don Francisco, born August 27, 1917. Passed away
January 29, 2005. Memorial Service will
be on February 26, 2005, 2pm, at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports
Museum, 1101 West
McKinley Avenue, Pomona, CA. The family requests that in lieu of
flowers, donations be sent to
Save the Salt Committee, as Don was an avid land
speeder.
Don Francisco passed away early Saturday
morning, January 29, 2005. Don
was a pioneering hot rod engine builder, race promoter and technical
writer for many early
publications. Don graduated from High School during the Depression, and
like many young men
of that time, loved hot rodding and the chance to go to the Dry Lakes of
Southern California
and race cars. He met Bill Burke in the 40's, and built the engine for
Burke's Belly Tank.
Bill Fry and Wally Parks drove the Burke/Francisco car at Bonneville.
Parks, the 1946 SCTA President,
and later editor of Hot Rod Magazine offered Don a job at HRM as a writer
and Technical editor.
Don wasn't sure that he could write, but was offered more money than he
was making at the
Alhambra Fire Dept, and truly loved cars more than the bureaucracy at the
fire station. Don's
style was a no nonsense and sparse use of the language to get his message
across. He was popular
with the kids from the very first, and his readers poured over every
statistic and explanation he
gave. Once, a reader used the exact measurements of a car outlined in the
magazine and wrote in to Don
that the car appeared to be a foot short in the middle.
Don met his wife, Sunny, at HRM. She was the love of his life, and
he did everything that he could to catch her eye, and dissuade her from
going out with his rival, Ray Brock, for her affections.
Sunny was a former model, and the secretary and receptionist at
HRM.
To see anyone at HRM, you had to convince her to let you in. Sunny chose
Don, and introduced Ray to her equally beautiful sister, Joann. Don was
also a pilot and
flew people to and from events.
He worked for Bill Stroppe and Clay Smith in the Pan-American Road
Race,
and later was a part-ner in the Baja 500, Mexican 1000, Dam 500 and the
Parker 500. He raced
in the East African Safari. When inducted into the Dry Lakes Hall of
Fame, he broke up the
audience with his dry wit and humor, "if I'm good enough to be elected
into the Hall of Fame, how
come I wasn't the first?"
Uncle Donald, in anyone's eyes, you will always be one of the firsts.
Gone Racin' is at www.oilstick.com
--
|