Frank Kenneth Maestri

Frank Kenneth Maestri, 84, of Springdale, Arkansas, passed away March 8, 2018. He was born April 19, 1933, in Tontitown, Arkansas, to Albano and Agnes Pierce Maestri. Frank attended Springdale High School, where he was an All-District football player. After high school, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy and was stationed in the Pacific during the Korean War. Upon receiving his discharge, Frank enrolled at the University of Arkansas, where he majored in transportation and graduated with a degree in business administration. He then went to work as a dispatcher for Willis Shaw Frozen Express in 1963 and retired as the company’s president in 1999. Frank was elected to seven consecutive terms as a director of the Arkansas Trucking Association. He also served as president of the Refrigerated Transportation Foundation and chairman of the Refrigerated Division of the Interstate Carriers Conference. In 1999, the Arkansas Trucking Association named Frank one of the industry’s “twenty most influential people of the twentieth century.” Frank was active in church and community. He was a member of Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He served as president of the Tontitown Historical Museum board of directors and was a longtime supporter of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Local history mattered to Frank. His grandparents, Pietro and Melania Maestri, and his father, Albano Maestri, were Italian immigrants who came to Northwest Arkansas in 1898 as one of the founding families of Tontitown. Golf was a favorite pastime, and Frank had the good fortune to play at some legendary courses, including Pebble Beach, Augusta National, and St. Andrews. Frank was preceded in death by his brothers Floyd Maestri and Paul Maestri, and his sisters Genevieve Maestri Bean, Grace Maestri Wade, and Lavinia Maestri Zulpo. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Evelyn Ceola Maestri of the home; daughter Michaela and her husband Jamie Baker of Springdale; son Kelly of Fayetteville; son Kevin and his wife Kelli of Springdale; grandchildren Jeremy Baker and his wife Alisha, Joshua Baker, Hogan Maestri, Stella Maestri, and Lola Maestri; brother Stephen Maestri and his wife Dorothy of Fort Smith; sister Mary Frances Maestri Vaughan of Springdale; and brother Leslie “Red” Maestri of Lowell. Frank would want you to know that his greatest source of pride was his family. Visitation will be Tuesday, March 13, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Sisco Funeral Chapel in Springdale. The funeral service will be Wednesday, March 14, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tontitown, with Rosary at 10:00 a.m. and Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m., Father John Connell officiating. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Tontitown. After the services, please join the family for a reception at St. Joseph Catholic Church parish hall. In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be made to the Tontitown Historical Museum, PO Box 144, Tontitown, AR 72770; St. Joseph Catholic Church, PO Box 39, Tontitown, AR 72770; or Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, 118 W. Johnson Avenue, Springdale, AR 72764. Online condolences may be left at www.siscofuneral.com

Frank Kenneth Maestri

April 19, 1933 - March 8, 2018