Obituary of Marie Elizabeth Pera

Longtime San Benito County resident Marie “Mimi” Pera passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Monday April 17th after a short battle with cancer at the age of 69. Marie is survived by her husband of 47 years Mike and her daughter Robin of Hollister and her son Bob (Helayna) of Placerville and her granddaughter Sheridan who she affectionately referred to as Bug. She is also survived by her brother John (Jean) Barrett and sister Charlotte Cabral of Hollister and sister Janis Yee (Pete Rivera) of Reno and one niece, several nephews, several great nieces and nephews, numerous cousins and her adopted family the Laugesens of Cottonwood. Marie was preceded in death by her parents Dave and Francis Barrett, her in-laws Bob and Gina Pera, and brother in law Mark Cabral. Marie was born on November 8th, 1947 in Hollister and resided on numerous cattle ranches in San Benito County. She attended Hollister Grammar School before she moved to San Benito Lateral where she graduated from Jefferson Elementary School, a one room school house in South County. Marie attended San Benito Joint Union High School where she graduated in 1965. She went on to work for the San Benito County Ag Extension for 13 years before she became a stay at home mom. The family moved to Turlock for 18 years where she then worked for Griffith and Masuda Law Office as a legal secretary for 17 years. Mike and Marie moved back to Hollister in 2004 where she worked for Paxton and O’Brian Law Office in Hollister until her retirement in December 2016. Marie was a member of the San Benito County Historical Society, member of the Italian Catholic Federation, Treasurer for the San Benito County Cattlewomen and was their Facebook Administrator. In more recent years Marie travelled with Mike to Alaska twice and to see the Panama Canal as well as being an avid player of the card game Pedro and enjoyed travelling to Placerville to see her “Bug”. She was a wealth of information for not only family history but for the history of San Benito County families. A private interment will be held for the family at the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery at the old Fort Ord in Monterey at a later date. A Memorial Service will be held at Grunnagle Funeral Home in Hollister at 11 AM, on Friday April 28th, followed by a celebration of life at Paine’s Restaurant at 421 East St. in Hollister. In lieu of flowers Marie’s wishes were donations to one of the following: San Benito County Cattlewomen's Association P.O. Box 539 Tres Pinos, CA 95075 Hollister FFA Attn: Ag Department 1220 Monterey Street Hollister, CA 95023 California Wildlife Officer's Association Canine Fund P.O. Box 865 San Carlos, CA 94070