Francis Paul Gehlen (Frank), 77, of Sonora, California, is with God, his Creator, in his Kingdom, after falling in our home on September 11, 2024, and suffering severe brain trauma and slipping into a coma. He was making a valiant effort to recover, but the damage from Agent Orange exposure he incurred in Vietnam to his kidneys and lungs finally caught up with him, and he died on November 22, 2024. Frank was born on June 6, 1948, in Toppenish, Washington, to the late Floyd and Fern Gehlen, and was the 3rd of 7 siblings in a loving and fun farming family in Toppenish. Later in life he met and married Barbara Miller in Sonora, California, on October 7, 2017, and she survives him. Frank also happily acquired when marrying Barbara his step-daughter Katie Ortiz, son-in-law Fabian Ortiz, and their 3 kids who are so fun and busy; Kai, age 13, Ruby and Annika age 10 and sister-in law Shelley and brother-in-law Michael Tennyson, who have two children and two grandsons. They all welcomed and loved Frank immediately!
Frank’s surviving siblings and their spouses are Kathy Boyd (Skip), Susan Miller (Chris), and Christopher Gehlen (Lida). His predeceased siblings are Judy Shindler, Tom Gehlen, and John Gehlen, and he has 2 surviving in-laws, Theo Gehlen who was married to Tom Gehlen, and Glen Shindler, who was married to Judy Shindler. Frank was also very blessed with 9 wonderful nephews and nieces, and 7 great-nephews and nieces!!!
In 1969, Frank was drafted into the Army and chosen to lead a squad of men through the mine fields of northern South Vietnam. He did so miraculously without any mine explosions!!! I attribute this to his praying Mom, and I’m sure many other prayers! I asked him once how he did that, and he finally said that he “walked where the villagers walked”. In civilian life he was into construction in Hawaii, then became a contractor and home designer in Elko, Nevada, and then chose to drop contracting and concentrate on home designing in Sonora, California. He designed many homes before retirement here in Sonora. In retirement when at home we enjoyed our friends and the many activities available in our town. Frank also loved to beat me at Canasta! He also loved traveling: domestically we car-camped with our dog Scout across our country to see the various amazing national parks, and internationally to visit our daughter and her family in Taiwan, China, and Japan. We’d visit and then tour in amazement! We didn’t plan to stop so soon!!!
We will be having a Memorial Service for Frank at the Columbia Cemetery at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, 10/7/2025. The address is: School House St., Columbia, CA. 95310. Frank’s ashes will be buried in the #2 Veterans’ section of the cemetery. Following will be a gathering at my home. Right now, I’m thinking of providing something like gyros and/or pastitsio, and potluck whatever would be appreciated and fun!!!!! My address is 349 Knowles Hill Drive, Sonora, CA. 95370. Phone# (707) 953-1211.
