By Connie McDougall
Photos by Rod Mar and
Jeff Reinking/NBA Photos
Frank and Sarah Furtado worked together in SPC's Athletic Department and
then for the Seattle Sonics.
Frank, Sarah and Sonics General Manager Wally Walker gathered in front of
the new Furtado Center to talk with visitors.
At halftime of the Sonics and Utah Jazz game on February 23, SPU Athletic
Director Tom Box (left) and Alumni Director Doug Taylor presented Frank with
a copy of the endowment established by the Sonics to provide scholarships
for SPU physical education students with financial need.
Frank and Sarah Furtado met in the farming town of Ripon, California. They came from entirely different cultures. She was the very-American daughter of a Free Methodist minister, and he was the Roman Catholic son of a Portuguese immigrant. Frank remembers his first meal at Sarah's house: "The food was so bland — chicken and dumplings!" Sarah was likewise perplexed by the Mediterranean feasts in the Furtado household. The Korean War separated the two when Frank was trained by the U.S. Navy as a medic. After the conflict ended, they married, moving to Seattle so he could attend Seattle Pacific College. "Sarah attended one year and loved it," recalls Frank. They lived in "married" housing, a place with few amenities. "We cut a hole in the wall between apartments to share a phone with our neighbor," he laughs. Frank decided he wanted to be a coach and teacher like SPC Track and Field Coach Ken Foreman. "I became a Foreman disciple," says Frank. "He was a master teacher and so inspirational." |
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After his graduation in 1960, Frank and Sarah moved south so he could earn a master's degree in exercise science at the University of Oregon. Frank coached for two years at George Fox College before returning to Seattle Pacific, where he was the wrestling coach and Sarah managed the Athletic Department. "She was the glue that held us together," recalls Soccer Coach Cliff McCrath. Ron Sorensen, a 1970 graduate and former Falcon wrestler, clearly remembers the rigors of Frank Furtado's training. "We did our 'daily doubles' morning and night, and then ran around Green Lake." Sorensen adds that Furtado was known for his big heart. "He gave spiritual guidance to these guys, many of whom weren't Christians. He showed us that he cared about us." In 1970, Sarah was wooed away by the Sonics. "I told Frank that they actually have petty cash there, so I didn't have to buy the coffee!" she says. Four years later, Frank followed, becoming the Sonics trainer. Exciting, yes, but he discovered the young organization was ill-equipped. "Not even an ice-making machine," he says. "On my way to work every day, I'd stop at a store and pick up bags of ice." The Sonics eventually coalesced into a top NBA team, yet it was like family to the Furtados in those days, especially the players. "Sarah loved them," Frank says. "She was their gal." |
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In addition to the team's health, Furtado was responsible for the Sonics travel — luggage, tickets, even wake-up calls. "Very few trainers in the NBA take all that on," says McMillan. Another former Sonic, Dale Ellis, has his own nickname for Frank Furtado: "Godfather — because he's just like an old Italian godfather," Ellis laughs. "He commanded respect, and you know, you don't want the healer mad at you. In this game, people come and go, but Frank touched a lot of people's lives. I'll never forget him." The Furtados look back on their own lives with astonishment and gratitude. "It was always about the work," Frank says, telling the story of a young man who once asked him how he "networked" his way to the top. "It wasn't about networking," Furtado explains. "From the beginning, at Seattle Pacific and with the Sonics, we just did the best job we could. We were so enamored by what we were doing, it never occurred to us that we couldn't succeed."
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And Frank was their man. Former Sonics
player and now Head Coach Nate McMillan calls Frank "Doc," because Furtado
so often fixed his battered body. "He knows everything I've been through,
and he would never let me give up," says McMillan, adding that Furtado was
always meticulous, sometimes stern, and deeply caring. "No one has a clue
how much he did for us."
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