December 24, 2014

Frank Scarsella, Kent contractor, dies at 63

Construction executive Frank Scarsella died last week from an aneurysm at the age of 63.

Scarsella was president of Scarsella Brothers, a Kent-based heavy-civil contractor.

Scarsella

Like many in the industry, Frank grew up in a construction family. In 1945, his father, Tony, and uncle Leo bought an Army surplus Caterpillar D6 bulldozer and founded the company that would later become Scarsella Brothers Inc.

Frank was the oldest of five boys who grew up in Burien and worked at the family business.

His brother Bob said they all learned to use construction equipment at an early age. Frank drove a scraper at age 11 on a project the company did on state Route 167.

Bob said all of the brothers started out pushing brooms in the shop when they were 7 or 8, and would take turns riding to jobsites with their dad in his pickup during the summer.

Bob said their father taught his sons to work hard, treat people fairly and stand behind their word. Tony Scarsella also required them to go to college before working at the family business.

Frank earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Central Washington University. He took over the business when Tony died in 1997.

Tamarah Knapp Hancock, general counsel and professional engineer at Scarsella Brothers, knew Frank for 12 years, and said, “The effort he put in to make this company successful was characterized by persistence and consistency.”

Hancock said Frank was always one of the first to arrive at the office each day. She said he never lost sight of what it meant to run a small business, even as it grew into a large business.

“If there was a way to help a subcontractor out with a cash flow problem, he bent over backwards to help them,” she said.

Jessica Scarsella, Frank's niece, said her uncle had “a keen way of seeing through people, and that served him well in business and in life.” She said he always surrounded himself with good people.

Hancock said Frank and his brothers run their business with an old-school mentality, but treat employees like family. She said when her daughter got into a bad car accident a few years ago, the Scarsella brothers visited her daughter in the hospital.

Bob said Frank always practiced his father's motto: Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

Such core values helped Frank and his brothers turn Scarsella into one of the area's largest heavy-civil contractors, with projects in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Alaska and Montana. The company works on highways, levees, reservoirs, railroads and roadway improvements.

Bob said one of the jobs Frank was most proud of was a nearly $200 million contract for the third runway at Sea-Tac Airport that involved 8 million cubic yards of embankment. Scarsella was part of a joint venture with Gary Merlino Construction Co. and Tri-State Construction called TTI Constructors for that job. Bob said TTI stood for “The Three Italians.”

After it was finished, they received another embankment job at the airport valued at $125 million.

The five brothers also own SB Structures, which was founded in 2006 when they bought a bridge building company.

Hancock said Frank was one of the best negotiators she has known. “By expecting more, he got more,” she said.

Frank gave back to the industry by co-chairing the AGC/WSDOT Roadway Team and working on several labor negotiating committees on behalf of the AGC.

Outside of construction, Frank's hobbies were salmon fishing and collecting Willys MB military jeeps. He also was a big fan of Gonzaga basketball because three of his kids, his son-in-law and his daughter-in-law all graduated from the school.

Bob said they haven't figured out who will lead the construction company. All the surviving brothers are vice presidents, and Frank's son, Nick, also works at the firm.

Frank is survived by Kim, his wife of 31 years; three children Nick (Sara), Maleena (Kyle) and Matthew; brothers Don, Bob, Gino and Rick; and many nieces and nephews.

A rosary will be recited at 6 p.m. Friday and a funeral mass is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Burien.