Three of the Urbas boys from Bethel Park went off to fight in World War II. Only one came home alive.

The last brother, Frank Urbas, died Thursday in the veterans' hospital in Oakland. He was 86, and the cause of death was heart disease, said his daughter, Fran Funaiock.

Mr. Urbas, raised during the Great Depression, quit school in the eighth grade. He eventually joined the Marines and fought on Guadalcanal in the first major offensive launched against the Japanese during World War II.

After being hit by shrapnel and sustaining a grievous wound to the back, he boarded a ship bound for a military hospital in Australia. The trip through a war zone saw his transport hit by a Japanese torpedo. After a change of ships, he made it to the hospital, and later was sent back to the states for further medical treatment, Ms. Funaiock said.

Neither of his brothers survived the war. Andrew Urbas, an Army infantry soldier, and Jacob Urbas, a sailor, died in combat.

Their sister, Mary Gregg, was the fourth member of the family to serve in the military during wartime. A member of the Women's Army Corps, she remained stateside during the fighting, Ms. Funaiock said.

The war stuck with Frank Urbas for many reasons. It took his brothers' lives and some of the strength that he had as a young Marine in the Pacific.

"His back bothered him the rest of his life," Ms. Funaiock said.

Still, he rebounded from the emotional and physical pain to live a long full life.

Once back in Bethel Park, he married the former Eileen Edwards. They would have marked their 65th wedding anniversary this year.

Mr. Urbas spent his working life as a mechanic with Dravo Corp. He loved hockey, the Steelers, the outdoors and talking. Friends nicknamed him "Jaws" because he never seemed to pipe down, Ms. Funaiock said.

He is survived by his wife and his sister, both of Bethel Park, and four daughters: Ms. Funaiock, of Munhall; Sandie Reber, of Plum; Nancy Brown, of Grandy, N.C.; and Andrea Mazzoccoli, of Ellicott City, Md.

A service will be at 6 p.m. today at David J. Henney Funeral Home, Library.