Maria Manuela Pena

Maria Manuela (Mestre) Pena of Manteca died Nov. 13. She was 48.

Pena was born April 13, 1966, in Lisbon, Portugal, coming to the United States when she was four years old.

While working at the Holiday Inn in Hayward, she met and fell in love with Javier. They were married in 1988 and went on to have two children, Javier and Jenna. 

In 1992, she began her career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as an accountant in the Finance Department.

Pena is preceded in death by her mother, father and brother, Johnny Mestre.

She is survived by her loving husband Javier; son, Javier; daughter, Jenna; brother and sister-in-law, Alvaro and Lucy Mestre; niece, Cindy Mestre; nephew, Joseph Mestre and a host of family and friends in the United States, Mexico and Portugal.

A memorial service will be held at 11a.m. Friday, Nov. 21, at Holy Angels Funeral & Cremation Center, 1051 Harder Road, Hayward, California.