Thomas (Frank) Francis Denis Ahern

In sorrow, we announce the passing from this life of Frank Ahern of Corbally, Limerick. Frank passed on October 30, 2025, at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco at the age of 82.

His funeral Mass will be held on November 18th at 1 pm at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, 2390 Bush St, San Francisco, CA.

Frank was born November 22, 1942 in Dublin, Ireland to parents Gerard and Maureen Ahern. His childhood years were spent in Corbally, Limerick, where he and brothers Michael, John and Peter and sister Elizabeth lived in a house adjacent to the banks of the River Shannon. He attended Sacred Heart College in Limerick, commonly known as Crescent College, where he played for the rugby team, rowed for the Limerick Boat Club and played in a local skiffle band with his brother John. He studied electrical engineering at University College Dublin, then completed a masters degree in computer applications at Trinity College Dublin. In Dublin he met Elizabeth MacDonald at a UCD dance on his 21st birthday on November 22, 1963, which he always remembered with both great personal and historical significance, as that was also the day he learned that President John F. Kennedy of the United States had been assassinated. In June of that same year, President Kennedy had made his historic visit to Ireland, the country of his ancestors, including a visit to Frank's hometown of Limerick.

Soon after meeting Elizabeth, they were engaged and moved to the United States, where Frank went to work for Westinghouse Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his son Shane was born in 1968. Right after Shane's birth, Frank began studies for a Master's in Business Administration at Stanford University in California. While a student there, his daughter Aoife was born in 1970. Following his graduation, the family settled in San Francisco, California, where Frank spent the remainder of his life, with the exception of a 2-year period when the family returned to Ireland and lived in Dublin from 1974-1976 before returning to San Francisco.

In San Francisco, Frank was a pillar of the Irish community. He led a multitude of endeavors of great significance to the Irish community of the area. He led the Irish Theater Company in the early 1980s that produced numerous theatrical performances of works of the great Irish playwrights, performed at the Irish Cultural Center of San Francisco. He also produced several annual June 16th Bloomsday events in San Francisco including a sold-out performance by the renowned Irish stage actress Siobhan McKenna performing Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from James Joyce’s "Ulysses". Also in the 1980s, he created and produced a television program on local community access television called Irish Magazine that featured news and interviews of interest to the Irish community in San Francisco. In the late 80s, he launched another television program called News Europe featuring news and interviews related to the formation of the European Union. He then launched a business venture, a print magazine called 1992 America, targeted at executives of U.S. corporations that conducted business in Europe to help them stay informed and be prepared for the challenges and new opportunities arising from the formation of the European Union.

In 1995, Frank’s wife Elizabeth passed on to eternal life at the young age of 50 due to an aggressive cancer. In 2003, Frank's life changed dramatically again due to a severe case of meningitis from which he miraculously survived after a time in a coma in the intensive care unit at San Francisco General Hospital. He recovered, however, was left with permanent after-effects of total blindness and cognitive effects that impaired his short-term memory. That set of events began his life at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, a long-term skilled nursing facility. Thankfully, while suffering from blindness and challenges with short-term memory, his keen intellect and rich memories of his life remained fully intact along with his indomitable spirit and zest for life. These and other wonderful qualities enabled him to have a wonderful quality of life at Laguna Honda that he constantly expressed gratitude and joy about. He consistently spoke with love, affection, and gratitude about all the nurses, doctors, and staff at Laguna Honda and the wonderful care he received there. He developed countless friendships among the other residents of Laguna Honda, and was an active participant in many activities, including a poetry group, the Residents Council, and the Catholic community that held weekly Masses there. Accompanying Frank on walks around the large campus of Laguna Honda, which is home to nearly 1,000 residents, he would constantly be greeted warmly and affectionately by other residents and staff alike when they saw him passing by, and he would always pause his walk to spend a little time in friendly conversation. He remained strongly connected to the San Francisco Irish community through active participation in monthly meetings of the Irish Literary and Historical Society at the Irish Cultural Center. And while unable to read, he maintained an active engagement in the affairs of the world through internet radio, tuned in daily to Radio Limerick, Raidió Teilifís Éireann, The BBC, as well as stations from France, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, and other more. A lifelong lover of languages, he continued to sharpen his intellect by maintaining his knowledge of Irish, French, German and Spanish, and expanded his repertoire to include Russian and Tagalog and more. Upon meeting any new person, if he detected an accent, he would inquire as to their country of origin, and would usually be able to express a few sentences in their native language and share with them some knowledge of their country's history and culture. In sum, Frank lived at Laguna Honda for over 20 years until his death there in 2025. In those years, his seven grandchildren were born, four in the Bay Area were able to visit him in person regularly, and three who lived in Spain. His brothers, Michael, John, and Peter, were able to visit him numerous times over the years. His family was precious and dear to him, and he spoke fondly and often about all of us.

While his circumstances in those years were difficult in some respects, no one who knew Frank in that time ever heard him complain or express sadness about his situation. In fact, he only ever expressed joy and gratitude for the blessings that he did have in his life there. At one point, when an old friend met him and expressed his sympathy about his circumstances, Frank quoted a line from Shakespeare saying, ”Sweet are the uses of adversity,” and explained that the difficulty of his circumstances had led him to a life where he felt fully alive and blessed with so much good.​​

Frank is mourned by his son Shane and daughter Aoife, grandchildren, brothers John and Peter, all his living family and friends, and joins his late wife Elizabeth, parents Gerard and Maureen, brother Michael, and sister Elizabeth in eternal life.

His funeral Mass will be held on November 18th at 1 pm at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, 2390 Bush St, San Francisco, CA.

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