João Carlos Augusto Lopes passed away on September 11th, 2022, at his home in El Cerrito, California, after a two-year battle with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), a rare form of cancer. He was 58 years old.
João Carlos was born in a rural area of São Paulo, Brazil, to parents João Augusto Lopes and Rosina Arzani. One of 11 siblings, he worked on the family farm from a young age until they migrated to the city. He worked for General Motors Brazil in sales prior to emigrating to the United States, fulfilling his childhood dream.
Arriving in San Francisco in 1989, João Carlos first found work in the restaurant industry. He met and made friends from all over the world, and worked his way up from busser to manager. He eventually returned to the occupation that best suited his charismatic and outgoing personality: sales. He interned with a small computer repair company before landing his first technology job in 1999, which led to a career in international software sales with companies such as Trolltech, Autonomy, MarkMonitor, and Thomson Reuters. After leaving Thomson in 2018, he became VP of Sales at Ionate. Conducting business in three languages—Spanish, Portuguese, and English—he established the company’s presence in Latin America.
In 2006, he married his wife, Shimul Rahim, and left the city for the suburbs of El Cerrito. Together they enjoyed traveling to Hawai’i, Mexico, England, Ireland, Italy, Cuba, and many parts of Brazil. At home, João spent most of his free time creating a lush garden full of exotic plants, fruit trees, and vegetables. Among his friends and family, he was famous for his grilled chicken wings, his love of cachaça, and his ability to and penchant for talking to anyone about anything. A lifelong Santista (fan of the Santos futebol club in Brazil), he was also a dedicated Warriors, 49ers, and Giants fan, and never missed an opportunity to see a game in person. He loved going out on the town with friends, discussing politics, watching wildlife, and hosting karaoke parties at his home. His happy place was in a boat, on a river or ocean, with a fishing pole in hand.
He is survived by his wife, Shimul, and his 8 siblings in Brazil: Augusto, Fatima, Terezinha, Laura, Cido, Paulo, Edson, and Sergio.
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