John Nunes

November 9, 1927 - June 30, 2012

John Nunes was born November 9th, 1927, in a small house on the upper end of East 5th Street. His parent’s, Antonio Nunes and Mary Costa came to Benicia in January of 1912. He had 12 brothers and sisters who grew up on East 2nd Street amongst a large population of Portuguese immigrants. John started working early. He earliest recollection was delivering milk from the running boards of a truck throughout Benicia as well as making deliveries to the Benicia convent. He later worked on a dairy and also recalled New Year’s Eve night delivering milk with Frank Saitz Senior. He worked many odd jobs as he supported himself through an early education in Benicia schools. John joined the United States Army in February of 1946 and was Honorably Discharged July 25th, 1947. After serving in the military, John started working at the Benicia Unified School District as a janitor. A year later he would start his career with the United States Government at the Benicia Arsenal. He worked mostly as a truck driver until his job was closed out in 1963. For 6 months he worked in a foil factory in South San Francisco, returning to Benicia to work at the Yuba where he started as a janitor and ended up as a crane operator. He left the Yuba a year later to deliver oil for Sheldon Oil of Suisun but landed an opportunity back in civil service with Travis Air Force Base as a forklift operator. He later transferred to Mare Island and ended his career as a multiple truck/vehicle driver in the motor pool retiring at age of 55 with 35+ years of government service. After retirement, John loved his opportunities working at the “old” Town Club for Harold Adams and later JM’s for Bruce Adams and Jim McInerney. John spent 20 years in a self-built home near Nevada City later in life and returned to Benicia living the last 20 years at the Rancho Benicia Mobile Home Park. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Lucille Nunes. John leaves two sons, Dayle L. Nunes (Regina) of Grass Valley and John R. Nunes (Roseann) of Benicia. John had 5 grand children, Mikki Millhouse of Hewitt, Texas, April White of Oakley, Dayle Nunes Jr. of Grass Valley, Jenna and John Anthony Nunes of Benicia. He also had 8 great grand children at the time of his death. His hobbies included reading, playing cards and watching sports, preferably the 49ers and Giants. He was always proud of his ability and love of driving truck both locally and throughout the state of California. He said driving gave him the silence he needed and the sense of accomplishment he aspired to his whole life. Memorial services will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday at Passalacqua Funeral Chapel followed by inurnment with Military Honors in St. Dominic's Cemetery. Family prefers donations to St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School or Kaiser Hospice of Vallejo.