Frank V Soracco

June 24, 1935 to December 17, 2020

Our beloved husband, brother, uncle and loyal friend passed away on December 17, 2020 after extended health problems which lead to heart failure. For those that knew and loved Frank, it’s hard to imagine him gone, since he was a person deeply engaged in life - alert, funny, incredibly generous, a person who cared for and helped others whenever he could, never took advantage, and was one helluva storyteller.

Born in San Francisco, Frank was the eldest son of Dr. Charles and Franziska, nee Schneider, Soracco. He was raised in Placerville, a small town in the foothills of the Sierras, with his sister Carla and brother Peter.

After high school, Frank attended UC Berkeley and San Francisco State. Upon graduating, he taught 8th grade and coached football at Mother Lode Elementary, then later at Placer Hills School, until being dismissed for teaching “Catcher in the Rye” which was on the school’s banned book list.

In the summer of 1964, Frank volunteered in the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He was soon drawn to where the action was and packed up his VW Bug and headed off to Selma, AL., where he was one of a very small number of whites working full time in “The Movement”. He quickly earned the trust of SNCC staff and the locals - the brave residents who put their lives on the line by being early participants in SNCC’s voter registration work there. Frank accompanied many southern blacks in their attempts to register to vote before passage of the Voting Rights Act and served as the Selma March Field Marshal. Selma was a strategic choice for the protest on March 7, 1965, and the peaceful march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge became infamously known as Bloody Sunday. Frank was proud to play a part in those pivotal and momentous events. Like many, he was attacked, billy clubbed, cattle prodded and arrested by law enforcement for his civil rights actions. When Frank was arrested in Selma, Police Chief Wilson Baker put him in a cell with Martin Luther King for five days. Doing that was a violation of the law — like everything else, jails were segregated. Baker knew that if he put Frank in a white cell he’d get badly beaten, and Baker did not want that to happen. Frank cherished those times and the admirable people he worked with to help “bend the moral arc of history toward justice”.

Later, Frank and his brother went into the restaurant business and established the successful Fiasco Restaurant in Marina Del Rey, where he met many lifelong friends, including his wife Sandy Toshiyuki. Initially, he was not too enthusiastic about moving to LA, but then discovered Marina del Rey was next to Venice, which jibed with his counter cultural leanings. He soon fell right into the Venice scene and loved living there for the rest of his life. A natural athlete and avid sports fan, he enjoyed skiing and after retirement, playing golf all around Southern California but regularly at Rancho Park on Wednesdays with his golf buddies. For fifteen years, Frank enjoyed hosting vacationers from near and far who would stay at his Venice studio apartment. He was the consummate host, enjoyed befriending new people and loved sharing local history, the best road trips, special sights and dining experiences with his guests. Frank’s extensive knowledge on a broad range of subjects made him an engaging conversationalist. He had a wonderful, slightly ribald, sense of humor. He loved his cats, jazz music, had a wonderful palate for good wine and food, and loved driving his sports car… always with the top down.

Frank was the epitome of what is now called ‘authentic’, an unfiltered individualist who always spoke his mind. His colorful style, his big heart, and his generous spirit will be deeply missed.

When our world resets itself again, we will gather together to celebrate Frank’s memory.