Frank Anastacio Oneida

Frank Anastacio Oneida was born in Shoshone, ID, on December 4, 1929, to Anastacio Frank Oneida and Violet Rachel (Howard) Oneida. Frank and his brother, John Louis Oneida (born May 17, 1931), grew up and attended school in Shoshone, where his parents owned and operated a bar called the Palace Pool Hall. Frank graduated from Shoshone High School in 1948, having taken part in varsity sports in football, basketball, and baseball. It was also during this time when he first became acquainted with Mary Nadine Williams, the girl who would later become his wife,
After graduation, Frank worked at the local feed store, the Oneida Family sheep ranch, and, briefly, with the Idaho State Highway Department, where he would eventually work for most of his later career. In late 1950, during the first year of the Korean War, Frank received his draft notice. He entered the military service on February 20, 1951 and was shipped to Fort Lewis in Washington State for Army basic training. After basic, he was sent to Korea, where he served with the Second Infantry near Pusan as a military policeman.
After his discharge on February 12, 1953, he returned to Shoshone, where he married Mary Williams on May 14 in that same year. That fall, the couple moved to Pocatello, ID, where Frank attended Idaho State University for one year, and then moved to the University of Idaho in Moscow, where Frank would major in Geology. On November 6, 1954, they welcomed a son, Gary Frank Oneida, into the family. After Frank graduated from the U of I in 1957, the couple returned to Shoshone and Frank went to work with the Highway Department as a geologist. On October 14, 1958, the couple welcomed another son, Arlen Dene Oneida, into the world, followed on September 16, 1963, by their third son, Patrick Lynn Oneida.
In 1965, Frank was offered a promotion that relocated the family to Pocatello, ID. He served as District Geologist, working primarily on the new interstate highway system that was under construction to connect Idaho with the Eisenhower National Highway System. Frank and Mary remained in Pocatello, raising their boys through high school, until 1983, when Frank was promoted to State Geologist, a position that required the couple to relocate to Boise, ID. They remained in Boise through their retirements in the early 1990s and for many years afterwards.
Frank and Mary remained active throughout the 1990s and into the new century, going camping in their motorhome, traveling across the country, and square/round dancing in Boise and elsewhere with the Capitol Squares. They particularly enjoyed their annual camping trip each summer to Ketchum, ID, for the reunion of family, friends, and extended family from Idaho and beyond. Family was tremendously important to Frank and Mary, and spending time with their children and grandchildren and being present for important events in their lives meant the world to them.
The couple returned to Pocatello in January of 2019 and moved into a retirement care center near their sons, Gary and Pat, and their families. On March 11, 2020, Frank passed at 90 years of age due to complications from an ongoing illness.
Frank was preceded in death by his parents, Anastacio and Violet, and his brother, John. He is survived by his wife of nearly 67 years, Mary Oneida; by his three sons, Gary Oneida and his wife, Patty, Dene Oneida and his wife, Jamie, and Pat Oneida and his wife Amanda; and by granddaughters Danielle, Leslie, Shelly (and her wife, Vicki), Jessica, Andreana (and her husband, Jessy), and Brittni, grandson, Christopher, and great-grandson, Skyler. Frank is survived as well by people he loved and counted as family, particularly his sister in law, Marcella Oneida, and Sandra Cavanaugh.
The family would like to express its heartfelt appreciation to Ashley Manor and Encompass Health for their highly professional and compassionate treatment of our father.
In lieu of flowers, a suggested donation to the charity of your choosing would be appreciated.
Funeral services will be conducted at the Wilks Funeral Home at 11 am on Friday, Mar. 20th. There will be a viewing from 6-8 pm on Thursday, March 19th and another to be held one hour prior to the service on Friday. Internment will take place with a graveside service on Saturday, March 21 at 12 pm at the Shoshone Cemetery, Shoshone, ID.

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