Pasquale "Pat" Camera

Pasquale (Pat) Archino Camera, 90, of Santa Cruz, passed away peacefully on April 30th surrounded by his sister, Mary Louise, his daughters: Patricia, Lennette, and Mary Jo, a granddaughter Krystal and a great granddaughter Raelynn. 

Before moving to Santa Cruz in 1947 from Pittsburg, California, where he was born, the family used to camp at Natural Bridges and the New Brighton Beaches.  He inherited his passion of seamanship from his father Joe, who was in the Italian Navy.  

As a teenager in Santa Cruz, Pat had a brief stint working at the Boardwalk, and he helped his father build a family residence at 126 Front St. He was a Scout and played basketball and football for Mission Hill Junior High but his passion was and forever would be fast cars, and hot rodding. 

Prior to enlisting, Pat worked at Stagnaro Brothers on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.  Upon his discharge from the Navy, serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany for almost 3 years, he went to work for Vern Putney at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Front Streets. That first job as a  mechanic  opened up his career choice of working on cars, being employed  at various Volkswagen dealerships in Santa Cruz and San Jose. When he retired from Volkswagen he went to work at Holiday Muffler Service for Larry Meyers, shortly afterward he went on to run his own shop, Santa Cruz Muffler Service.  Before electronic vehicles, he could tear an entire car apart from stem to stern.  Mechanizing was an innate ability he had, something he passed on to his children and grandchildren.   

Even though Pat attended elementary schools in San Jose and Pittsburg, and continued on to Mission Hill and Santa Cruz High, he had no formal continuing education. Pat enjoyed reading reference books, and practiced self diagnosis. He also liked to cook and experiment with recipes, his favorite method of cooking was barbecue. He loved to tell stories and was enchanted by other peoples stories, especially those of his family.  He was sharp, even as he aged, he could pick up a conversation that was cut short, days, weeks and sometimes months before.  When he remet his conversational partner he would jump right in where they left off. Pat was crusty at times and did not suffer fools gladly.  His favorite expression was “loose lips sink ships”, meaning if he told you a confidence, he expected you to keep it.   

In the mid 1950’s Pat married Dixee Norton Graham. Pat and Dixee went on to have 3 daughters. The girls grew up on a couple of ranches which Pat had rented, and they, along with their half sister Lori Taylor, became interested in horse back riding.

Over the years he formed and maintained lifelong friendships.  He was one of the original Santa Cruz hot rodders, was a member of The Clockers car club, and The Santa Cruz Yacht Club, assisting in starting the Wednesday Night Boat Races.  He belonged to the Santa Cruz County Horseman's Association, and the  Automotive Industries Union.  Until his passing, Pat kept track of almost everything happening in Santa Cruz County, especially at the Yacht Harbor; from watching it being built in the 1960’s to monitoring the assembly of the new dredge in 2015. Recently, his new mantra was, “stay off of 7th ave” due to the Murray St bridge project. 

Pat knew how to read the weather and the tides. He loved to crab and fish in Monterey Bay.  He spent hours watching football and NASCAR. No matter if it was cruising the San Joaquin River Delta or deep sea fishing in the Bay and on ocean waters, his favorite place would always be on a boat.

Pat was predeceased by his paternal grandfather Pasquale Camera, Maternal grandparents, Sam and Louisa Raitano, father Joseph, mother Mary, Uncle Dom Raitano, Aunt Connie Raitano Faucher and countless other relatives. He is survived by his brother Sam  J. Camera, sister Mary Louise Camera, his 3 daughters, Patricia Camera, Lennette Camera, Mary Jo Camera, his grandchildren: Jeffery Sherrick, Cassandra Jones, Krystal Angel, Cameron Camera and Wyatt Camera as well as many great grandchildren, and many generations of family throughout California, Hawaii, Washington State and Massachusetts.     

At a later date his ashes will be scattered in Monterey Bay, and a Celebration of life will follow.  

He will be forever in our hearts and missed by so many.