Patrocinia (Pat) Pires celebrated her 100th birthday this week, first with family on Sunday, then again with friends on Monday.

Born July 31, 1923 to Salvador and Maria A. Nunes, she lived for many years at 25 Harborview Ave., a street that was developed by her father, a builder. She enjoyed a career in the 1950s and 1960s as a buyer of children's and women’s clothes for both the Shepard Company and Peerless department stores. She was married to Sam Pires, and she remains very close with her many nieces and nephews.

“She was like a mother to me and my brother,” said her nephew Karl Correia, whose own mother passed away when he was 20 years old.

Raised in the Catholic Church, at St. Mary’s, she learned as an adult that her family had Jewish roots in Portugal and had converted to hide their faith. She embraced that history, eventually becoming an active member of the United Brothers Synagogue as well as the First Congregational Church.

She volunteered for many years at the East Bay Food Pantry, translating for Portuguese-speaking clients. She now resides at the Silver Creek Manor.