I remember many happy afternoons spent with Frank and Eliza. I was a student at Cornell and my first husband, Gil, taught with Frank at SE JR. HIGH. He made the best strawberry daiquiries!!! How lucky you were to have him for a dad!!!!! Love, Pam

JERRY, BEN & FAMILY....Your father had a rich full life and lived every minute of it without regrets. Let the thoughts of a life well-spent be your consolation now. Knowing Coach V. as I did, I am sure that is the way he would have wanted it. , Class of 1957, Valentine High School, Valentine, TX.

Iam sorry to hear that Frank has passed away . I was in the hospital and now home recuperating so i will not be able to attending Friday. He has now joined up again with his lovely wife Eliza . I never had him as a teacher/or coach .But i have to say he was one of the funniest guys ive ever met . They were both such happy and lovely people to visit with Rest in peace Frank

Matt

Mr. Villareal was an outstanding teacher. He was one of three teachers at City High that really made a positive difference in my life.

I had Mr V. ,at West High in the late 70's, He was an awesome teacher.

I have also had several of his roast hogs.

My 1st memory and a story I have told many times was in 72' , I was a seventh grader at SE Jr High, I had a friend who was on the 9th grade football team Frank coached. The team was running laps around the field during practice and I was taunting my friend to move faster. Mr. V. walked up behind me and kicked me in my

butt , knocking me to the ground, he said " I'm coaching these boys not you now get out of here"

I sought him out and spoke to him every time I saw him in public,he was a wonderful man.

My condolences to the family

Mr. villareal was a remarkable man, overcomin obstacles that would seem to be to great a challege for some people. He handle with poise& dignity. May he rest in peace...

Dear Jerry and Ben,

Mr. Villareal was my Spanish teacher at West High School around 1980. I have thought of him many times over the years; I work in a high school now and often remember his example as a teacher who always had a sense of humor and fun in the classroom. Mr. Villareal loved to be with his students, and he also seemed to understand me better then than I did myself. He was a delightful man and I was lucky to be his student.

What a great teacher but even as a teenager, you know a nice person when you meet one! Such a nice man. I recall he had a good sense of humor and would tell us jokes from time to time!

Mr Villareal was an extremely memorable teacher of Spanish at Iowa City West High School. A real nice person and quite the character. He was always a great representative of the Spanish culture. I am very fortunate to be his student. He was a great man who has truly left a lasting legacy.

Frank lived next door to my family for many many years. He is one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. He fixed things for us. He fed us food every time he cooked his famous pigs. He gave me my first (legal) drink when I turned 21. He will truly be missed. God Bless you Frank.

My memories of Mr. Frank are from middle school and high school as one of our substitute teachers. He was such a kind man who always brightened the room. The bingo and the kitty kat treats are some of my best memories. Days were better when he was around. I really did not know him outside of school, but wish I had. He accomplished so much in his life. Everyone loved him and everyone is going to miss him. I'll keep his family in my thoughts. Thanks for everything Mr. Frank, see you again soon.

Mr. Villareal was my favorite math teacher of all time. He set the foundation for my continued love of mathematics. A remarkable man.

Senor Villareal was my Spanish teacher at City High School. I was just talking about him a few days ago-mainly that I should apologize for disrupting the class. As a teenager, I never thought I would have a need for any foreign language and especially in Iowa. Plus, I just was not a good student in Spanish-but he was patient, incredibly patient, and he tried so hard to help my brain take in this language. I wanted to tell him I thought he was wonderful and didn't take the time to do it. However; he was a very kind and patient person.

Frank Villareal had to be one of my favorite teachers. He was my Spanish teacher at Southeast Jr High. Everyday he was upbeat and had a huge smile on his face. He made learning fun through his many colorful stories and always encouraged you to do your best. He will be missed and God bless his family.

The world would be a better place if everyone was as thoughtful and kind and remembered people the way Frank did. He always told them the way things really were. When I was in 8th grade he wanted me to be a quarterback because my brother was the best quarterback he coached but I was only half the size that he was. My condolences to Frank and his family.

Mr. Villareal was my math teacher at SEJH in the early 60's. Over the years I have thought about him many times and how much I enjoyed his class. He always had a smile on his face and knew how to make learning fun. I remember our class giving him a "fruit roll" one day......we all took a piece of fruit to class and at the same time rolled it to the front of the class. He was so surprised and loved it! He was one of a kind and will always be rememberd by all who were fortunate enough to know him. My sincere condolences to his family. ♥

I admired Frank from the day I met him in 1960. His way of coaching and explaining things was outstanding. He could make you laugh and see the other side of things all at once. He was tuft and gentle at the same time.

wonderful man,wish i would have known him better

I have many fond memories of Mr. Frank when he was a substitue in West Branch while I was in middle and high school. He would motivate us to get our work done quickly so we could play bingo to win kitty cats (kit-kats). He always had a wonderful smile and a great laugh. I remember him fondly!

Ben and family, I am so sorry for your loss. Mr. Villareal was a great guy. I'll never forget how hard two push-ups could be. And I recall him canceling football practice in 1972 so we could attend if we wanted Sen. McGovern's speech on the Pentacrest during the fall presidential campaign. I took advantage of that opportunity, and enjoyed it so much I later went into journalism and chased candidates of every stripe and for every office for many years. After our family moved to West Branch, I saw him again when he taught here. A wonderful man.

I will remember Frank, for the kindness he showed to his wife, when she was ill and in the hospital, and came to me, and asked me to prepare special food , for her, to take to the hospital.........he wanted her to have something she liked, instead of what she was given................and I prepared food, for him to take to her!

I enjoyed many visits with Frank, and always Catered his Holiday meals.

He would make special cards for me, for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Always with humor! I will miss his presence in our store, always enjoyed visiting with him

In Spanish class at Southeast Frank never gave higher than 97% on an assignment, nor lower than 3%. He said he would not claim to be smart enough to judge perfection or complete failure. As my coach, and as a friend later, there was no doubt where Frank stood on an issue or person. He cut right through the fluff and told it like it was. One of the most colorful and interesting people I have ever met. Rest in peace. God bless your family.

great teacher, coach, and friend. loved listening to him speak with the 'new' cuban students @ SEJH back in the early 60s. How could anyone speak that fast and still be understood? Even though I did not have him as a teacher, meeting him in later years was always warm and sincere. I wish I were able to speak directly to his family. But City High football will keep me away Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Missing because of football? He would understand.

I remember Mr. Villareal from my days as a student in the mid-1970s at South East Junior High, where he taught Spanish. I never studied under him (I took Latin instead), and he never knew me, but I remember his commanding, seemingly no-nonsense presence in the hallways. He always dressed very well.

My name was Gayle Roesch. I am 64 yrs. old and Mr. Villareal was my math teacher at Central Jr. High (no longer in existance) around 1958 or 1959. I was always crazy about him. He made math fun as he was always full of enthusiasm and a few Spanish phrases now and then. I left I.C. in 1968 and returned about 10 yrs. ago. I had no idea that he lived here until I saw his son's obituary in the paper a couple years ago. After reading that I decided that I would go visit him and we could talk about old times. I regret to say that I never went to see him although I thought of him often and intended to do it. No I regret that I never made it. Pleae accept my sympathy for your loss and the loss to all of those whom he taught.

Not 24 hours ago, I gave a speech to a Rotary Club in Miami about a humanitarian project I am launching in Colombia. Afterwards, when someone asked why I had an interest in Latin America after a career devoted mostly to public media, I replied that it was probably due to an especially influential Spanish teacher I had around 1960, in the 7th grade at Southeast Junior High.

Frank Villareal instilled in me a lifelong enthusiasm for Spanish. Without it, I wouldn't have had the courage to join the Peace Corps in 1971 and discover the richness of Latin culture and the beauty of its people. That led to travel in much of Central and South America and the Caribbean over the years for both work and pleasure, and now to the launch of what I hope will become a significant institution for sustainable economic development that benefits the poor in Colombia. It is a tribute to him. He could make any subject fun and fascinating. If I had taken his math class, I might have become a mathematician. But I did not, and believe me, I am not.

And so, upon learning this morning of his passing, I am glad that I wrote to him a couple of years ago to tell him what an inspiration he had been, and remained. He very kindly replied that I was among his all-time favorite students. It was exactly this kind of generous exaggeration, I thought to myself, that endeared him to generations of students who learned Spanish and math and self-confidence from a man who was bursting with eagerness to teach what he knew, and to shape young lives. The world needs many, many more Frank Villareals. They are all too rare.

Bien hecho, Mr. Villareal, y gracias por todo.

Rick Lewis

Miami, FL