Frank Bourbeau

Frank J. Bourbeau passed away peacefully at home in Santa Barbara on January 16, 2022 at the age of 88. He was born and raised in Spokane, Washington and graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and the University of Wisconsin. He met his German wife, Ilse while in Milwaukee and they moved to Santa Barbara in 1962 where they raised their family.

Frank worked as an electrical engineer at Delco Electronics until starting his own power electronics company in 1983. With keen intellect and a relentless work ethic, Frank built Enerpro into a thriving electronics company. His innovative power electronic designs are used around the world in a wide variety of industries including power generation, locomotives, medical imaging, and countless industrial processes. Frank was awarded 13 U.S. patents for his original design concepts.

Frank led an active and adventurous family life including camping and backpacking, sailing with the Seashell Association, and long bike trips. After the kids were grown Frank and Ilse traveled throughout the US and internationally where they enjoyed meeting people and learning about different cultures. They were enthusiastic participants of Friendship Force where they made friends from all over the world.

Frank is survived by his wife Ilse; children Barbara, Andre, and Tom; four grandchildren Tyler, Rene, Trevor and Eric; and brother Bob. He was an amazing man, outstanding engineer, great father/grandfather and loving husband. The family is so grateful for the support of Hospice and the loving, compassionate Fijian caregivers that allowed him to be comfortably cared for in his home.