John E. Sequeira

John was a proud third generation San Franciscan who grew up in the Forest Hill area. He was the oldest child of Mary McCarty Sequeira and Edward Sequeira. He was a keeper of the family stories often entertaining us with stories of the Sequeira's, particularly his grandparents Manuel and Mollie Sequeira and their seven children. Like his mother, Mary, John loved keeping the family in touch with one another and keeping in touch with them. A few years ago he organized a Sequeira family reunion. John attended St. Brendan's Elementary School as his family was an active member of St. Brendan's. He served as an altar boy. He went on to attend St. Ignatius College Prepartory School and has remained an active alum. After high school, staying close to home, he went University of San Francisco and majored in English. He was proud of his Jesuit education and passed that love on to his daughter Margaret who attended Georgetown and then went on to get her masters from the Jesuit School of Theology of Berkeley. Both Margaret and Carol went all through Catholic school including Notre Dame High School Belmont where Barbara taught and John was also involved. Carol continued the Catholic School Tradition by attending St. Mary's College, Moraga. John met his wife Barbara in Carmel Valley when they were just 18 and 16. It would take another year when "The Twins - Barbara and Margaret" headed off to Dominican College in San Rafael for them to reconnect. There were many close calls to curfew as John sped Barbara back across the bridge after family dinners with Mary and Ed. Then Barbara moved back to Reno, they broke up but it took only six months for them to figure out that they were really meant to be. They reunited and held a long-distance relationship for two years. One of their first dates upon reuniting was to go see the movie West Side Story. Their song was "Somewhere a Place for Us" (https://youtu.be/-BQMgCy-n6U) They married at St. Thomas Cathedral in Reno, NV on August 22, 1964. They began their married life together in Burlingame, CA. After a few years in California they moved back to Reno where they welcomed their oldest child Margaret in May 1967. Life continued to move them around taking them to Montclair, CA where their younger daughter Carol was born in 1970. They just celebrated their 51st Wedding Anniversary. John always said that Barbara and his daughters were the most important people in his life. John began his professional career in Real Esate before moving into the insurance industry. He began his career as insurance broker with Hartford Insurance traveling throughout the state of Nevada. John received an offer from a broker in San Francisco and they decided to move back to the Bay Area. Then getting another promotion, John moved his family to southern California where they would spend the next eight and half years. John and his family lived in Woodland Hills, CA enjoying the warmth of Southern California. Once again plans changed and his company offered him a position back in the Bay Area. In 1979, the family moved to Belmont, CA. Deciding on a change of direction, he moved over to Diversified Risk in Emeryville, CA where he worked on the insurance for limited partnerships. He then moved to the Fritz Corporation where he became a Risk Manager for shipping products. He then moved to an insurance company handling all the insurance needs for the San Francisco Archdiocese, parishes and religious orders. His final professional position was back at Fritz where he was head of Insurance, managing all their insurance and risk management. He retired in 2002. To say that John loved Christmas was an understatement. He loved all of it - the lights, the decorations, the shopping, the gift giving. One Sequeira family tradition was a visit from Santa on Christmas Eve. He and the other men of the family took turns playing Santa. The tradtion was restored upon the birth of Nicholas in 1995. Carol and Ken hosted yearly Christmas Eve parties and Santa made an apperance passing out candy canes and listening to Christmas wishes. This tradition has now been passed down to his nephew Stephen. John every year put up the Christmas lights outside, drove us around to see Christmas dipsays and every year a huge tree was put up in the living room of the Belmont House (he loved those cathedral ceilings). He did a wonderful display with bubble lights and greenery on the mantle. He loved shopping and gift giving. He was a decisive shopper, regardless of price, much to Barbara's dismay. They had a yearly tradition of shopping and dinner - thankfully or Mom would have never finished the gift shopping. He loved the gathering of family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day even as church responsiblities included Midnight Mass and then the 8 am Christmas morning Mass. Margaret was sad to miss Christmases the last few years as her work required her to be present at her congregation on Christmas Eve. Still Christmas was a magical time for John with both sacred and secular traditions. After his retirement from the business world, he founded the American Institute of Ethics with a group of Bay Area business and public service leaders. The goal was to establish a culture of ethics and integrity to business and public life. They hosted a series of talks with current and former San Francisco mayors, hosted a conference on ethics in the Construction Industry, did an event on ethics and the environment at the San Francisco Aquarium, and along with the Rotary Club did an ethics training for high school youth. John continued this work in recent years by doing ethics workshops at Notre Dame High School Belmont and Junipero Serra High School. John and Barbara were always active in their parish communities. John helped with spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts and recently the St. Bartholmew's Golf Tournament. As soon as the option was available, John became a lector and Eucharistic Minister. He even had a brief foray into youth ministry while living in Southern California. John and Barbara were also active in Marriage Encounter including organizing a 1975 Holy Year Pilgrimage Trip to Rome. Upon moving to the Bay Area, John and Barbara were among the first couples to host evenings for the engaged. Many Immaculate Heart of Mary engaged couples heard their stories and learned about the art of marriage from John and Barbara. John's faith was ever evolving and thoughtful. When the permanent diaconate was re-established in the San Francisco Archdiocese, John was in the first class. He was ordained by Archbishop John Quinn in St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco in 1990. He just celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination. Most recently John served as the Social Justice coordinator for St. Bartholomew's and he served on the Board for the SF Peninsula PIA working on issues of immigration and income inequality. He was also active with the local multifaith group which was enaged in dialgue, shared meals and learning about the faith and traditions of each other. This past fall, John attended a Sukkot service at Temple Beth El in San Mateo and Temple Beth El attended a Mass at St. Bartholomew's. John was inspired by the writings of Father Richard Rohr and attended a couple of his retreats. So in addition to family, work, and church, John loved sports! He was an avid golfer having taken up the game as a child. There were many an afternoon of golfing with his father and brother Richard at the Presidio Golf Course. He spent his childhood visiting Carmel due to his father's work in the hotel industry. He spent many a summer playing golf at Pebble Beach and Spy Glass. Upon moving back to the Bay Area, he joined the Olympic Club. For many years he had a standing Saturday golf date. He took his daughter-in-law Donna, Margaret's spouse, out to Coyote Point where she hit her first golf ball as well as his oldest grandchild Nick. John proudly coached Carol's elementary school basketball team (not necessarily to victory) and absolutely adored attending his grandchildren's sporting events - often the loudest and most enthusiastic fan in the crowd! He was an avid San Francisco 49ers fan and San Francisco Giants Fan. He was a fan even when they were terrible although there might have been a bit of yelling at the television. His sister-in-law Robin really knew John when she got him a 49er helmet lamp which was always lit when the 49ers played. For many, many years, John and Barbara hosted an annual 49er vs.Rams party - a tradition which began in their Southern CA home and even continued in Belmont. Margaret and Carol's childhood was filled with Sunday afternoons of football, baseball, or golf on television and Monday night football. We also enjoyed going to the occasional 49er or Giants game at Candlestick Park and a number of games in the first couple seasons at AT&T Park. John was a walking sports almanac of statistics ready to share batting averages or every Masters tournament winner upon a whim. He especially enjoyed multiple phone conversations with his brother while viewing any and all games. John loved the phone and keeping in touch with friends and family far and wide. He was a proud grandfather, welcoming Nick in 1995, Brooke in 1998 and Mollie in 1999. He loved big family dinners with his brother Richard and his wife Robin, their son Stephen; daughter Margaret and her spouse Donna and their daughter Mollie and daugther Carol, husband Ken with their children Nick and Brooke. His latest love was the Old English Sheepdog, Charlie that recently joined the Miller family. He kept in touch with friends from Reno, like his friend John Griffin who we lost this past year, Los Angeles friends, nicknamed the Webegots who held a yearly gathering at varioius central locations in CA. He also stayed in touch with his cousins including Linda Morrow, Carol Williams and John McCarty. John's faith was informed by his Jesuit education valuing tradition, compassison and reason. Throughout his life, John ministered to people whether as a deacon, an employee, a friend, a parent. He brought his faith into every aspect of his life, for John there was no separation from what he prayed on Sunday to what he brought into the workplace on Monday. He was a man of deep integrity, loyalty and love. John will be missed by many and so many were touched by his life. Truly his was a life fully lived. "To live in this world you must do three things; to love what is mortal; holding it against your bones knowing our own life depends on it; and when the time comes to let it go, to let go" In Blackwater Woods, Mary Oliver