Melvin Pereira, avid fisherman

An avid fisherman who usually fished with two friends, Melvin Pereira was at home on the waters off the Rockaways or gossiping with congregants at St. Joachim R.C. Church in Cedarhurst, where he was the sexton, in charge of maintenance.

Pereira, a 23-year member of the Meadowmere Park Fire Department, and lived in the small community for just as long, died of liver failure at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan on Dec. 30.

“He fished all summer on the weekends for fluke, flounder and striped bass,” said his wife of 31 years, Irene (née Roig). “He would fish in the Rockaways on party boats with friends Howard Rothenberg, of Woodmere, and Dennis Boudera, a Meadowmere Park neighbor. Melvin also made his own lures.”

The couple met in 1979 working at the Brookhaven Nursing Home in Far Rockaway. Irene a licensed practical nurse and Melvin was working in the facility’s housekeeping department.

“My father loved his family,” his son, Justin, said. “He would wake up at 4 a.m., cleaning and cooking, doing the little things so his wife, who was the center of his world, didn’t have to. When he went fishing he would bring back his catches and gave them out. He always helped people and was always doing something for someone else.”

It has been a rough 14-plus months for the Pereiras as Hurricane Sandy damaged the entire first floor of their house and Pereira having received treatment at Mt. Sinai’s liver transplant unit. “The whole lower half of the house is still under construction,” Irene said. “Difficult? Very much so.”

Along with his duties at St. Joachim, Pereira was part of the church’s social swirl. “He loved to gossip with the ladies in church after mass,” Irene said. “He was a good family man and a good friend. He was very dedicated to St. Joachim, its parishioners and loved the fire department.”

Pereira is also survived by his children, Nilsa Robertson, Minerva Davis, Melvin, Anthony, Annmarie, Justin and Melvin Pereira Jr., nine grandchildren and three sisters, Melinda and Olga Pereira and Maria Davilla. Three brothers predeceased him.

A firematic service was held at Meserole Funeral Home in Inwood on Jan. 3. Msgr. Paul Rahilly conducted a funeral mass at St. Joachim on Jan. 4. Pereira was interred at Greenfield Cemetery in Hempstead.