A eulogy for ‘Mr. D.’ Beloved Merced teacher who died after COVID fight mourned
Frank Delgado’s fellow teachers — and people in general who knew him — often described him as “old-school.”
That’s short for a no-nonsense person who could be tough on kids in the classroom, but ultimately wanted the best for his students.
Delgado looked the part as well, with his short, close-cropped, military-style haircut that he had cut every week at Vanity Boxx in Merced.
He had sported short hair from his time in the Air Force — and throughout his 10 years working with the California Highway Patrol, before transitioning into the classroom as a teacher. He spent 35 years working in the Merced City School District.
“He was not a big computer guy,” said Mark Herfurth, who taught and coached with Delgado at Tenaya Middle School for over a decade. “Mr. D was a pencil and paper type of guy.”
During his 35-year teaching career, Delgado impacted many lives. There are many Merced-area teachers, administrators, school staff and former students with heavy hearts after they learned Delgado died earlier this week.
Delgado died on Monday, March 8 after contracting pneumonia after a battle with COVID-19. He was 79 years old. He was on a ventilator battling COVID-19 for 24 days, say family members.
He died at Fresno Community Hospital with his daughter Michelle, 55, in the ICU room next door, who was also on a ventilator — battling the virus that has killed 418 Merced County residents as of Thursday afternoon since the start of the pandemic.
Michelle Delgado also works in the Merced City School District as a teacher at Stowell Elementary. The family is holding off on a celebration of life for Frank Delgado until Michelle recovers.
“When God called out the name Delgado we hope he’s happy with the one he got,” said Frank’s wife of 56 years, Cynthia. “We don’t want him to take the second one.”
Outpouring of love
Cynthia, who was also a teacher, has been blown away from all the phone calls, letters, cards and visits she’s received after the death of her husband.
“Of course our family, we thought he was wonderful,” she said. “Merced really opened up it’s arms.”
Many of Delgado’s former students have expressed their thoughts on their former teacher on social media.
“For some, you were known as the strict teacher, for me it was never that,” former student Fe Romero posted on Facebook. “Sure you could be hard-headed but god damn you were one of the most hardworking men I ever knew. You always taught us the importance of generosity and kindness. You cared for your students. You are the true definition of a teacher.”
Delgado spent nearly a decade working as a CHP officer. However, after surviving a couple situations where guns were drawn on him, including once by a 14-year old boy, Delgado decided to switch careers.
According to his wife, Delgado felt he had a son of his own that would be 14 years old one day. He didn’t want to be put in that position again where he might have to draw a gun on another 14 year old.
“Whether he knew it or not, he was born to teach,” Cynthia said. “He got his credential and he loved it. He loved teaching sixth grade.”
Impact on students
Delgado started his teaching career as a fourth-grade teacher at Chenoweth Elementary School in Merced in 1985. He moved to Tenaya Middle School to teach sixth grade in 1997 until 2015. He coached softball and girls and boys basketball while at Tenaya.
“I was a new teacher at Tenaya and a new basketball coach,” said Claudia Becerra, who has taught at Tenaya for 11 years. “He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. He would always check in on me and say, “You surviving rookie?’
“The genuine love he had for his students would leave me in awe,” Becerra added. “I never knew a teacher that had so much invested in his students. He put a fire in them. For me it was an honor to work with Mr. D.”
Delgado loved being a Tenaya Warrior.
“I think the most important thing about Frank is a kid didn’t go through his class without him believing in them, even if the kid didn’t believe in himself or herself, he did,” said Dora Crane, who worked with Delgado at Tenaya. “He was old school. He pushed the kids hard and he got the most out of them.”
Delgado finished his teaching career back at Chenoweth, teaching sixth grade from 2015 until the spring of 2020.
According to Crane, Delgado used to manicure the fields at Tenaya on the weekends. He’d used his pickup truck to to drag the fields to make sure there weren’t any rocks on the field. He would pulled weeds to make sure the kids had the best field to play on.
“He was tough on the kids but he helped turn their lives around,” Crane said. “He was always positive with them. He would tell them, ‘You’re not a bad kid, you’re making bad choices. Nobody is bad. We make bad choices, we learn and we move on.’”
Herfurth says Delgado taught from his background. He had a tough life, as an orphan and was raised in a foster home.
He used his life experience to connect with students at Tenaya who may not have had the advantages of other kids in town.
“One thing I feel that really needs to be said about Mr. D is that he did not teach to the test, but instead he taught them structure, discipline and students to believe in themselves,” Herfurth said. “He was more concerned about the whole kid and not the one who could fill in a bubble on a test in middle school.
“The kids knew Mr. Delgado meant business. When they were in his class it was time to work. He didn’t give them an inch and he held them accountable.”
Giving back
Delgado loved his students. Crane says she knows at least four students who Delgado helped pay their way through college.
“These were kids who wouldn’t have gone to college without his help,” Crane said.
Cynthia says often Frank would buy a new pair of shoes for a student and give them to the nurse to hand out so they didn’t know the shoes came from him.
Crane also said that when she had a baby in the house, Delgado would drop off a case of diapers on her porch in the morning once a month for an entire year. “What he did, he gave out of love,” Cynthia said.
Frank Delgado is survived by his wife Cynthia, his children Frankie, Michelle and Annie, son-in-laws Richard Martinez and Mike Mondo and his four grandchildren.
Becerra says room 23 at Tenaya will always be known as “Mr. D’s room.”
“Mr. D will always be a Warrior,” Becerra said.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 10:34 AM.
