Lockwood 'Woody' Pereira
Lockwood “Woody” Pereira, a former Lab employee and long-time active member in the Pleasanton community, died Dec. 7. He was 80.
Pereira was born July 13, 1931 in Oakland to Mitchell Emanuel Pereira and Evelyn Barrons Pereira. He attended Piedmont Elementary, Westlake Junior High and Oakland Tech, where he graduated in 1949.
After high school, he was a member of the Air National Guard and enrolled at the University of the Pacific for two years before spending six months in the service during the Korean War.
Following his six months of duty, he returned to school at San Francisco where he met his future wife, Silvia.
During his time in college, Pereira also was a member of the Air Force ROTC, becoming a second lieutenant upon graduation in 1956. He went on to become a pilot for the Air Force before retiring as a major.
Following his service, he worked for six years at LLNL before moving into the homebuilding industry, where he spent 30 years before retiring in 1999 as a vice-president at Shapell Homes.
Among the many developments he worked on was the Palomares Hills project in Castro Valley, as well as the Bonde Ranch project in Pleasanton.
Pereira was active in civic affairs in both Pleasanton and Alameda County. Throughout the years, he served as a Pleasanton planning commissioner; on the Pleasanton School Board; as the Alameda County fire commissioner; and on the Alameda County Airport Land Use Commission.
He also spent many years on the George A. Spiliotopoulos Invitational Tournament (GASIT) Board of Directors, helping to raise scholarship money for Pleasanton high school graduates. As of 2010, GASIT had awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to Pleasanton students.
In 1973, he was presented the Mayor’s Award for community service in Pleasanton.
A passionate sports fan, he spent many hours coaching Little League baseball and youth basketball, helping in the early stages of CYO basketball in Pleasanton. He also served as a youth soccer referee.
Pereira is survived by his wife of 56 years, Silvia; daughter, Pam Sangiacomo of Pleasanton; sons, Mitch Pereira of Pleasanton and Joe Pereira of Danville; brother, Art Perry of Foster City; and four grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20, at St. Augustine Church in Pleasanton. A celebration of life will follow at the Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton, at 12:30 p.m.
The family prefers contributions in Pereira's name be made to either The Friends of Amador Music, P.O. Box 602, Pleasanton, 94566; or to the American Lung Association.
