John Garcia

John Garcia
Sept 20, 1937 - July 26, 2020
John approached life with optimism and determination, quietness and vision. Never fearing failure, he was successful. Always loyal and generous, he sustained lifelong friendships and developed new ones. John was raised in Knightsen and Brentwood among the orchards and fields, working from childhood. His father would take him to the fields before school and return him after school to work, earning money for the family. During his teen years he worked in the Brentwood Pharmacy under the mentorship of Nate Fisher, whose guidance was pivotal to John's lifelong career as a pharmacist. He graduated from Liberty High School in 1956 and the University of the Pacific with degrees in Chemistry and Pharmacy. He earned his tuition from various jobs and benefited from the support of Dean Rowland to find financial aid. John often told the story of having just a dime in his pocket for a phone call during those college years.
After an around the world trip in the 60s John was a traveler for life, always with friendliness, humor and curiosity. While on a trip in South America he met his wife, Sharon Abbott, who was working in Cartagena, Colombia at the time. A loving husband, he liked to tell the story of their meeting. Sharon taught at Diablo Valley College and shared the enjoyment of travel throughout their marriage, from fun adventures with her family to exotic and familiar places on all seven continents.
Their only child, Abbott, was born in 1976. John loved him immensely and supported his chosen activities. Favorite family times at Salmon Lake in the Sierras were spent fishing, hiking, reading and relaxing together. Abbott shared the love of travel finding his own destinations until his death in 2003, a grievous loss.
John was a generous and caring man who would help family, friends and others without hesitation. He was a board member and volunteer for St. Mary's Center for homeless seniors in Oakland. After a rafting trip with Sharon in the Grand Canyon he volunteered with the Sierra Club Outing Committee and organized and led eco-friendly trips in Mexico, South America, Greece and Nepal. His friendships from the Sierra Club continued for a lifetime.
In the last decades of his life he owned Abbott's Compounding Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy in Berkeley, where he in turn mentored a young clerk into the profession. Compounding was an opportunity to use problem solving skills and innovative thinking to provide customized medicine for grateful patients, including pets and zoo animals. In a unique case John applied his creative skills to design a suppository for an elephant with TB in the San Francisco Zoo.
In retirement John continued to travel, fished in Alaska, pursued lifelong reading and engaged in wood projects and the landscape of his home. His beloved native plants, pathways, fruit trees, garden boxes and enhanced lighting are gifts to be enjoyed by his wife of 49 years.
After three years of treatment for prostate and metastatic bone cancer he succumbed to emergent medical complications at Kaiser Walnut Creek,
This dear man will be missed by his wife and his brothers, David and Blaise, and sisters Romana Schmidt, Dora Thomas, Elpidia Garcia, Biviana Jorgensen and nieces and nephews. He will be missed by Sharon's family in Maine and Florida as well as good friends, longterm and new.
Memorial donations can be made to the Sierra Club or St. Mary's Center in Oakland.