Ignacio (Frank) and Marcial de la Puente, former BGCH members in the 1960s and lifelong supporters. Frank is incredibly grateful to the Club for opening its doors to him and his brother, Marcial, when he was 12 years old and Marcial was 10. The local YMCA turned them away because their mother, Marcela, an immigrant from Peru, could not afford the membership fee. The Club (then the Boys’ Club of Hollywood on De Longpre Avenue) became their home away from home for the next 4 years – “in the air there was love and a feeling of belonging.”

Frank has fond memories of his days at the Club with Marcial. They loved playing pool in the games room (games room manager Ron Friscia was particularly kind, patient and understanding), swimming in the pool and creating artwork in the arts and crafts room. Frank and Marcial even learned how to play chess at the Club which they continue to play to this day. The Club allowed Frank and Marcial to build friendships, develop talents, experience memorable moments, and expand their English skills in a safe and supportive environment.

After his time at the Club, Frank served with the U.S. Army as an infantryman during the Vietnam war. After the Army, he obtained a degree in math from the University of California at Irvine and a J.D. degree from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon. He practiced law for 30 years, first as a criminal defense attorney, and for the last 15 years strictly as a civil litigator before retiring in 2018.

Frank lives with his wife in Salem and his daughter Lilibel, a U.S. Navy veteran, lives in Joshua Tree, California. Marcial also went on to college, after which he established a metal-finishing company in Anaheim, from which he retired after 40 years. Marcial lives in Corona, California with his wife, and has 3 children living within 50 miles from his home.

In 2011, Frank and Marcial donated a pool table to BGCH in honor of their mother.

I think the year was 1975 or 1976 and my father worked at a print shop on Western Avenue. One day, he saw a kid walking down the street and he asked him where he was coming from. The boy told him the Boys Club of Hollywood and my dad signed up me and my three brothers as members.

I was a member at the old location near St. Andrews Place and DeLongpre Avenue. It was an amazing facility for me as there was so much there. There was the game room, library, gym, pool and the arts and crafts room. There was so much to choose from. It wasn’t a place to be bored. I felt more comfortable with my peers there than I felt at school and my relationships with the counselors were invaluable in my growing up. Mike Cohen who was responsible for the library introduced me to photography and changed my life.

Mike restored the darkroom and brought in two friends of his to teach kids photography. I was hooked from that first darkroom session. After a while, the other kids lost interest, but I didn’t. I would often ask Mike for his keys to get into the darkroom and I would load film into the cameras, make some photographs around the club or Hollywood and then rush back to the lab and spend hours there. I found that I was pretty good at it.

I make my living now as a photographer and writer. I’ve written five books and produced two DVD titles on photography. I teach as an adjunct professor at the Art Center College of Design and for the last eight years, I have been the producer of The Candid Frame podcast, which is an interview show featuring conversations with established and emerging photographers from all over the world. Over 100,000 downloads a month are made from the over 238+ shows I’ve released over the years.