Joaquim Madeira Correia

Joaquim Correia, 86, passed away peacefully at his home in San Diego on September 27, 2026, surrounded by his loving wife and children.

Joaquim was born on Leap Day 1940 in Santa Bárbara de Nexe, in the Algarve region of Portugal. With a birthday that came only every four years, he enjoyed joking that his 80th was really his 20th. He was raised by his grandmother, Maria Luiza De Jesus, in a home full of cousins and short on money. He went to work early. By age eight he was repairing bicycles after school for pennies. By twelve he had built his own bike from spare parts, the only boy in his village to have one. That bike brought him to jobs with a blacksmith and a cobblestone mason. The lessons he learned stayed with him for life: work hard and never stop looking for the next opportunity. He was proud that he never lost a job. He only left for better ones.

In 1961 he began his service in the Portuguese military, where he trained as a tank mechanic. He served 36 months before his honorable discharge. In 1965 he joined his father in Tulare, California, speaking only a little English. When the mechanics in the shop where he worked couldn't communicate with him, he enrolled in a junior college auto course to learn the English names of the parts he already knew how to fix. In 1966 he earned Tulare's first smog license. He went on to become an automatic transmission specialist under Frank Sousa, whom he considered a father figure and the best boss he ever had.

Joaquim did everything with the confidence of a man who was never afraid to take a risk. He owned the first Pontiac Firebird in Tulare, a red-on-red 1967 model. He was his own mechanic and driver, and he won a drag racing championship in Fresno. Then he retired undefeated so he'd never lose his title. He was a founder and the first president of the Tulare Angrense Athletic Club soccer team. He later opened Correia's Automotive and launched KIGS, a Spanish- and Portuguese-language AM radio station serving the Central Valley.

In 1967 he met Lucilia Fonseca. He drove her family to Santa Cruz in their '59 Cadillac, which he later called "a big mistake, because then I knew where she lived." They married in 1971 and shared 55 years together.

His greatest professional achievement came later in life. He joined the Knights of Columbus as an insurance agent in 1996. Within three months, he reached the income goal he had chased for years. In 2007, at age 67, he was named the organization's number-one agent out of more than 1,550 nationwide. He retired at age 69, having reached every financial goal he set for himself at 45. Joaquim and Lucilia made San Diego their home for nearly two decades. He remained a faithful Christian and a member of the Knights of Columbus council there.

In retirement, Joaquim played several rounds of golf a week. It was a sport he once called "crazy" and came to love. He played poker for most of his life, often with his daughter, Liz, at his side. He fulfilled a dream by competing in the World Series of Poker in 2015, and he wore the jacket proudly afterward. His signature dish was Santa Maria tri-tip, cooked "nice and red," no matter how the rest of the family preferred it. He loved long drives, soccer, and the three Navy Tiger Cruises he took with his son Steve.

Joaquim and Lucilia loved to travel. They took many vacations together, and many more with the whole family: cruises, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and trips back to Portugal and France to be with relatives there.

Family was the center of it all. After Sunday meals, especially when everyone was in town, Joaquim loved to linger at the table with his children for long, thoughtful discussions and spirited debates. He was immensely proud of each of them: Juvenal, a retired master electrician; Steve, a retired Navy Captain and business owner; and Liz, Treasurer of the City of San Diego. One of the greatest joys of his life was reconnecting with Juvenal as an adult and building the relationship they shared from then on.

To his grandchildren and great-grandchildren he was Vôvô. He loved golf, and he loved his wife, who was right by his side to the very end.

Joaquim is survived by his wife of 55 years, Lucilia; his children, Juvenal (Bridgette) Bento-Correia, Steve (Courtney) Correia, and Elizabeth Correia; his grandchildren, Sandra (Christopher), Emeline (Romain), Nicole, Rory, and Ezri; his great-grandchildren, Lia, Isalie, Tiago, and Emmie; his sister, Beatrice (Maurice) Decamps; his brother, Andre (Liliane) dos Santos; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins in France and Portugal. He was preceded in death by his parents, Joaquim De Jesus Correia and Maria da Conceição Madeira.

Joaquim lived a life full of success and adventure. "Not bad," as he put it, "for a kid from the Algarve."

A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at Cypress View Mausoleum, 3953 Imperial Ave., San Diego, CA 92113. The Committal Service will follow immediately.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joaquim's memory to the American Cancer Society at https://raiseyourway.donordrive.com/campaigns/Joaquim-M--Correia-Memorial