Melvyn Thomas James ‘Mel’ Perreira

Melvyn Thomas James "Mel" Perreira, 72, died June 28, 2010, at his home in Burnet after a brief illness. He was born in Kahuku, Oahu, Hawaii, on Feb. 5, 1938 as the third child of Sam and Anna Perreira.

At 18, he joined the military. He was a retired master sergeant with 26 years in the Air Force. The most rewarding years of his career were spent as a load master for the 50th Tactical Airlift Red Devils Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

For a Hawaiian beach boy, his assignment in Iceland might be called, at best, the most uncomfortable. He didn’t care much for Alaska, but was pretty much at home in Italy, England, the Philippines and some other places. Dropping Jeeps and dodging bullets in Vietnam wasn’t exactly an ordinary day for most folks, but for him (and many others) it was the mission — challenging, dangerous and never dull.

He traveled to more countries than he cared to remember. He often left home at 2 a.m., expecting to spend one day on the East Coast —maybe to return in three or four. Meals, sleep and his entire life were consistently inconsistent. He always kept one part of his heart in the islands and the other in the mainland.

During his career, he learned more ways to return to his beloved Hawaii than a travel agent. After many years of been-there-done-that-at-least-a-couple-of-times, he was happy to retire to the beautiful Hill Country…the only place, according to him, that could compare to the home of his youth.

As fate would have it, a Hawaiian load master and a Texas school teacher met, married and blended their families in Arkansas more than 30 years ago. Subsequently, they moved to Texas and each took a new and different career path. To satisfy a youthful passion, he went back to photography school; in 1995, he opened Aloha Photography in Burnet, where he took many photographs of the local scenery and people for his studio.

Some of the couple’s children relocated to Texas. This enabled him to stay very close to his children and enjoy his grandchildren. His family members were some of his favorite photo subjects.

He was artistically and musically talented with multiple interests that included playing the ukulele and the guitar, growing Hawaiian ginger and other exotics, planting tomatoes and hot peppers, grilling steaks and tinkering with his computer and tools. He loved all things mechanical, airplanes, fast cars and never met a freeway he didn’t like. His favorite thing, next to family, was football, especially the Dallas Cowboys. Having been a football star in high school, in lieu of a football scholarship, he chose the military. He could be left-handed, right-handed, as tough as a Texas thunderstorm or as gentle as an island breeze. He has many stars in heaven, and was much loved, for being a wonderful husband, father, stepfather and grandfather. Part-islander, part-mainlander, he believed in keeping a low profile, but his love for family and kindness to the elderly and sick were known to many.

Survivors include his wife Betty; children and their families Connie and John Sergent and their son Nicholas of San Antonio, TJ and Cindy Perreira and their children Cody, Catie and Gracie of Keller, stepchildren and their families Billy Nall and his wife Giovanna of Manassas, Va., his daughter Christine of Austin, and sons Matthew and David of Manassas, Darla and R.B. Petty and their son Carl of Burnet, Joana Oberhelman of North Little Rock, Ark., and her sons Michael Myers and wife Jessica, also of North Little Rock, Charlie Myers and his wife Christy of San Antonio, Chris and Alex Miller of Jacksonville, Ark., and Roger and Ryan Oberhelman of Ashville, N.C.; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation is 5-7 p.m. July 7 at Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home, 306 E. Polk. St. in Burnet, (512) 756-2222.

A funeral service will be held at the Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe, Hawaii. and then a full military honor service will precede his burial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific – the Punchbowl — in Honolulu at 1 p.m. July 13.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Burnet EMS or a charity of choice.