ALMEIDA, THOMAS J.

Rosary will be recited for Thomas Joseph Almeida, 49, of 2534 O’Brien Circle, Camarillo, at 8 tonight in the chapel of James A. Reardon Mortuary, Oxnard.

Requiem Mass will be said by the Rev. J. J. Madera in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church here at 9 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Santa Clara Cemetery.

Almeida, a World War II hero of the Guadalcanal campaign, died at St. John’s Hospital Sunday night [December 23, 1973] after a brief illness.

A lifelong resident of Ventura County, Almeida was born March 4, 1924, in Oxnard. He was employed by Hi-Gear Corp., and earlier by General Foods.

Almeida was appointed in the mid-1960s to serve on the Ventura County Selective Service Board. When he was 17, he hadn’t waited around for a draft call. He left Oxnard High School to join the Marine Corps.

He served with the famed Marine Raiders under James Roosevelt at Guadalcanal. He distinguished himself later on New Georgia when, despite machine-gun wounds, he held off enemy troops during evacuation of American wounded.

Almeida was active in the American Legion Post, Camarillo, the Oxnard Disabled American Veterans and the local Latin-American Veterans Club.

Survivors include his wife Lily, of Camarillo; a son, Thomas C. of Long Beach; two daughters, Mrs. Ginger Thompson and Mrs. Linda Foster, both of Camarillo; five grandchildren; a brother, Edward, of San Diego; three sisters, Mrs. Josephine Robles and Mrs. Nellie Enriquez, both of Oxnard, and Mrs. Alberta Ortega of Carlsbad.