Obituary: Jackie Gilmete, 70, raised funds for Alzheimer's research

Jackie Gilmete, a West Sacramento activist who took up the battle against Alzheimer's disease in memory of her brother, the late prizefighter Joey Lopes, has died at age 70.

She recently was diagnosed with bile-duct cancer and had contracted pneumonia when she died Nov. 6 of respiratory failure, said her son, Silvestre.

Mrs. Gilmete helped care for her eldest sibling, a former world lightweight contender and boxing manager from West Sacramento, after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She also started an annual golf tournament to raise money to fight the disease. She continued fundraising after Lopes died in 1988, including an annual community crab feed that she organized and ran for more than 15 years.

She helped establish the Joey Lopes Foundation, which awards a $1,000 scholarship annually to a gerontology student at American River College. Working with the Alzheimer's Aid Society of Northern California, she raised money to help patients and their families with support services and respite care.

"Anything we needed, she was always there," society co-founder John Gorman said. "There was nothing Jackie wouldn't do for people with Alzheimer's."

A daughter of immigrants, Mrs. Gilmete was active in the Portuguese American community. She helped organize and served as the first president of the Cabo Verdeano Club, a social group for descendants of the former Portuguese territory of Cape Verde Islands.

Jacqueline Lopes was born in 1938 in West Sacramento. She was one of four close-knit siblings in a well-known family in West Sacramento. Besides Joey Lopes, she had another brother, Johnny, who sponsored baseball teams and owned Johnny's Time Out, a popular club. Her sister, Carolina Rodgers, died in 1994.

She graduated from James Marshall High School and married Silvestre J. Gilmete Sr. in 1963. She worked for 20 years as a Yolo County court clerk before leaving to care for her husband, who died in 1988. She returned to work in various positions in Washington Unified School District and retired as a library technician.

Mrs. Gilmete enjoyed volunteering. She helped the Cabo Verdeano Club raise money to fund scholarships in Northern California and to build a school on the Cape Verde Island of Brava, where she traveled to attend the opening.

"Seeing where her parents were from was the thrill of a lifetime," her son said. "The three loves of her life were her family, her community of West Sacramento and her culture."

Call The Bee's Robert D. Dávila, (916) 321-1077.