Nick Cabral, known as the unofficial “mayor” of Alameda’s West End for the mentoring he provided to countless young area men and women, died in February at age 84.
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The grandson of one of Alameda’s first black residents (his grandmother who moved to Alameda in 1907), Cabral grew up in the city’s West End — a part of the Island adjacent to Webster Street and the former Naval Air Station Alameda that’s less affluent than the city’s East End or Park Street downtown district.
As Cabral once told a reporter for the East Bay Express, the city’s West End is “a world within itself. Socioeconomically, it’s so different from the rest of town.” Despite the challenges of growing up on the West End, Cabral excelled — especially as a standout athlete at Encinal High School, known for the athletic prowess of its graduates, who have included baseball greats Willie Stargell and Dontrelle Willis.
Cabral was also an original member of the Alameda Boys Club (now the Alameda Boys & Girls Club) when it opened in 1949. At the time, the club was just one room in the city’s First Presbyterian Church on Santa Clara Avenue equipped with only a mat and a rope. That didn’t deter Cabral, though, and he went on to become one of the club’s first “Boy of the Year” recipients in 1949.
After attending San Francisco State University, Cabral went into construction and ran job sites as a foreman for Dinwiddie Construction. One of Cabral’s last mentees — or “sons,” as he called them — was Patrick Cruz, 37. Now a respiratory therapist, Cruz met Cabral at age 19 while attending the College of Alameda and working at the nearby Starbucks.
Working his shift as a barista, Cruz would often notice Cabral, by then retired, and his crew sitting outside the cafe telling jokes, some of them of the off-color variety. Soon Cruz, despite an almost 50-year age difference, was joining in on the high jinks.
“I heard these old men laughing, and Nick was the leader,” says Cruz, who gravitated to the man also known as “Papa.”
Soon after the chance meeting, Cabral took Cruz under his wing, giving him advice about life, girls and even college. Up until that time, Cruz says his work prospects were determined by where BART would take him, as he didn’t have a car. When he was accepted into the Ohlone College respiratory therapy program in Fremont, Cruz wasn’t sure how he’d get there — that is until Cabral offered to drive him to the program’s orientation meetings.
Cabral later encouraged Cruz to buy his first car so that he could more easily pursue his career. After Cruz did buy a car, Cabral would treat him to a free tank of gas every Sunday along with cheeseburgers or Mexican food. Growing up without his dad around, Cruz says he viewed Cabral as the father figure he didn’t have, even comparing him to Morrie in the book “Tuesdays with Morrie,” a memoir about a similar relationship between author Mitch Albom and his older mentor, Morrie.
“He was my Morrie,” says Cruz. “He was always willing to lend a hand.”
Cabral’s daughter, Candy DeWitt, whose husband, Hans, grew up with Cabral in the West End, says he was more than just a larger-than-life character.
“He helped and influenced many young men and some women,” says DeWitt.
As a testament to his influence and beloved popularity, DeWitt says that during the week before he died Cabral’s room was filled with 10 to 20 people for most of the day “hoping to see him one last time. Some flew in from other states.”
Even in the face of personal tragedy, Cabral stood ready to help and encourage others to do so. After his grandson Daniel, who is schizophrenic, was convicted of a man’s death, Cabral wrote an op-ed piece for SFGate in 2014 (bit.ly/lauraslawcabral2014) advocating for Alameda County’s adoption of Laura’s Law.
The law allows counties to provide court-ordered outpatient treatment for those suffering from severe mental illness — treatment his grandson never received. The victim’s family also advocated for the county’s adoption of Laura’s Law.
Donations in Cabral’s honor can be made to the Nick Cabral Scholarship Fund benefiting the Diplomas to Degrees Center at the Alameda Boys & Girls Club. For more information or to donate to the ABGC, visit alamedabgc.org/nick-cabral.
Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at pkilduff350@gmail.com.