Fernando Francis Mattia

CASA BLANCA - Fernando Francis (Smith) Mattia, 71, of Casa Blanca died on Aug. 9, 2017, at Chandler Regional Medical Center.
Mr. Mattia was born on Sept. 18, 1945, in Sacaton and was a son of Annie (Smith) Jackson and Bernard Cooper. Called Nano by his family, he attended Phoenix Elementary, Pima Central and St. Johns Indian School. He participated in football, basketball and the Indian Club. He attended Phoenix College for one year, then enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving a tour of duty in the Vietnam War.
He was a member of St. Anthony Catholic Mission and played baseball with the Bapchule team. He enjoyed bowling until he could no longer play due to his illness. He enjoyed attending bowling tournaments in Casa Grande, Chandler, Phoenix, Mesa, Reno and Carson City, Nevada, and Oklahoma. He enjoyed accompanying his wife, Eleanor, to her national bowling tournament in North Carolina, then traveling by car to Washington, D.C., to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He worked 40 years for telephone companies: 30 years at Mountain Bell in the Valley and US West in Casa Grande and 10 years in the Chandler area for Gila River Telecommunications, where he retired in 2012. He took care of seven grandchildren and would do anything for them. He was married previously and had four children. He then married Eleanor and they had four children.
Survivors include his wife, Eleanor; four daughters, Veronica Garcia, Angela DeLeon and Patricia Smith of Sacaton and Marcia Williams of Casa Blanca; two sons, Ronald Smith of Phoenix and Len Whitman of Jonesville, Virginia; a brother, Gilbert Smith Sr. of Sacaton; a sister, Margaret Jackson of Sacaton; 14 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Barry Sunna; a daughter, Jamelle Mattia; and a sister, Gloria Smith Major.
Wake from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, at the District 5 Multipurpose Center. Funeral Mass celebrated at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at St. Anthony Catholic Mission by Monsignor Ed Meulemans. Burial in Sacaton East Cemetery.
J. Warren Funeral Services, Cole & Maud The Gardens Chapel in charge of arrangements.