Frank Flores Blas Sr. (March 20, 1941 – August 1, 2016) was a Guamanian politician, businessman and member of the Republican Party of Guam. Blas served as the fifth

lieutenant governor of Guam The Guamanian self-governing government consists of a locally elected List of Governors of Guam, governor, List of current United States lieutenant governors, lieutenant governor and a fifteen-member Legislature of Guam, Legislature. The first p ...

from January 5, 1987 until January 2, 1995 for two consecutive terms under

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Joseph Franklin Ada.

Biography

Early life

Blas was born on March 20, 1941, in Agana, which is now known as Hagåtña,

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

to Vicente Cepeda Blas and Beatrice Leon Guerrero Flores. He attended Father Dueñas Memorial School in Guam, but graduated from St. Augustine High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He received an

associate's degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. ...

from the College of Guam in 1962. Blas then graduated from the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

with a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

in 1965. Blas and his first wife, Lydia Blas, who died in 1970, had two children, Frank Blas Jr., a politician, and Lynette. In 1971, Blas married his second wife, Tina. Frank and Tina Blas had three children: Paul Andre, Yvette Ignette, and Y'buena Antoinette.

Career

Blas initially worked in the private sector for the Mobil Petroleum Company of Guam from 1965 until 1969. He then became the Director of the Department of Commerce of Guam from 1969 to 1972. Blas was elected to

Legislature of Guam The Legislature of Guam () is the law-making body for the United States territory of Guam. The unicameral legislative branch consists of fifteen senators, each serving for a two-year term. All members of the legislature are elected at-large with ...

and served as a Senator in 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th Guam Legislatures from 1974 until 1984. In 1976, Senator Frank Blas authored Public Law 13-202, which provided for the establishment of the Guam Constitutional Convention.Guam Legislature
''Public Law 13-202''
Agana, Guam. In 1982, Republican Senator Kurt Moylan teamed with running mate, Senator Frank Blas, to challenge incumbent Republican Governor Paul McDonald Calvo in the

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

. However, Governor Calvo and his new running mate, Peter F. Perez Jr., easily beat the Moylan-Blas ticket in the Republican primary by 12 percent of the vote. Governor Calvo ultimately lost to Democrat

Ricardo Bordallo Ricardo Jerome "Ricky" Bordallo (; – ) was an American politician and businessman, who served two terms as the second and fourth governor of Guam with Lieutenant Governor Rudy Sablan from 1975 to 1979, and with Lieutenant Governor Edward Dieg ...

in the November 1982 general election. On November 4, 1986, Joseph Franklin Ada and his chosen running mate, Frank Blas, were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Guam. Ada defeated incumbent Governor

by 2,581 votes (7.6%). Blas served as Lt. Governor under Ada for two consecutive terms from January 1987 until January 1995. Frank Blas described his main role as Lt. Governor as working as a liaison between the Ada administration and lawmakers in the Legislature in a 1990 interview. Governor Joseph Ada was term limited in 1994 and could not seek a third term. Blas declared his candidacy for Governor and chose Simon Sanchez as his running mate. However, Blas and Sanchez lost the 1994 Republican gubernatorial primary election to Tommy Tanaka and his running mate, Doris Brooks. Tanaka was later defeated in 1994 gubernatorial election by Democrat Carl Gutierrez and his running mate for Lt. Governor, Madeleine Bordallo. Blas left elected office in January 1995 when he retired as lieutenant governor after two terms. He owned and operated Frank Blas & Associates, an insurance

brokerage firm A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a Purchasing, buyer and a sales, seller. This may be done for a commission (remuneration), commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer b ...

headquartered in Barrigada, Guam. In 2003, Blas was appointed Chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the Antonio B. Won Pat Guam International Airport Authority, a government agency which operates the airport. Frank Blas died on the evening of August 1, 2016, at the age of 75 in

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blas, Frank 1941 births 2016 deaths Guamanian businesspeople Guamanian Republicans Lieutenant governors of Guam Members of the Legislature of Guam University of Portland alumni