John Francis Pereira, 90, of Stuart, Florida, formerly of Treasure Coast Airpark, Port Saint Lucie, and East Northport, Long Island, NY, died May 23, 2016 at Martin Memorial Hospital North in Stuart

He was born July 28, 1925 in New York, NY, to Charles Emanuel Pereira and Ivy Valladaras Pereira.

He is survived by his wife, Anne Burford; son, John C. Pereira; granddaughters, Heather and Melody, and great granddaughter, Aurora; sister, Terrie Mancini; cousin, Lucille Sacks; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Stepsons, Jon Burford, Don (Lori) Burford; stepdaughters, Jeanne Mitchell and Marilyn (Mark) Gavitt.

John was in the US Navy Seabees during WWII building airports in the Pacific.

He worked for 15 years at Republic Aviation as a structural designer and engineer on projects such as the F84-F, RF84-F, F-105 and XF-103. He began work at Grumman Aerospace, in Bethpage, NY, in 1965,
working on the Lunar Module, EA-6B, Gulfstream II, and the F-14 and Space Shuttle proposals. He interfaced with local, state and federal agencies and dealt with them to obtain funding support for various avionic projects.

He became Grumman's Airport Planning Manager, handling all the company's domestic airports, retiring in June 1993. After retirement he spent a year and a half with the Grumman Restoration Team refurbishing
a Grumman J2F Duck for flight which is currently on display in the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, WI, and then spent 7 years as chief engineer.

John was always fascinated with flight and as a young boy built model airplanes. He earned a commercial pilot's license, logging over 4,000 flight hours and held a multi-engine, instrument and seaplane rating.

He flew many times to Oshkosh to attend th~ EAA Airshow saying he would rather miss Christmas than miss Oshkosh week. One of the thrills he was most proud of was being asked to pilot a B-l7 WWII Warbird bomber (Aluminum Overcast) from Long Island to Youngstown, Ohio, and being given a beautiful leather jacket that
he rarely took off.

He was a witty man, always ready with a funny story, riddle or joke. He would astound listeners about a high school class in which his teacher directed each student to memorize a poem lasting at least 5 minutes in length. He, even in his 90th year, could recite, ver batim, the poem "Darius Green and His Flying Machine" (written by John Townsend Trowbridge) and lasting nearly 20 minutes in length.

He was an avid collector of friends, remaining loyal to them and was an excellent friend in return.

He was a past commander of Island X-lO Navy Seabees, a lifetime member of Experimental Aircraft Assn., past president of EAA Chapter 594, AOPA, Cessna Pilots Assn., EAA Warbirds of America, Long Island
Early Fliers Club, GACE Flying Club, and Seaplane pilots Assn.

He was of the Catholic faith. Burial will be at South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, FL, at a future date.

An Online Guestbook is available by visiting www.treasurecoastseawinds.com