George Bettencourt

George was born and raised in Santa Clara, California and was the first of three children born to Ana Maria (Sanches) and Alberto Bettencourt.  From an early age George was always surrounded by friends and family, including his many cousins with whom he shared in his Portuguese heritage and experience as a first generation American.  George was grateful to have had the opportunity to visit the Azores Islands in 1998 along with many other family members including his mother, and got to spend time in the village of Rosais (San Jorge) where both of his parents were born and raised.

George developed his love for the all-American sport of baseball as a child and was a devoted life long fan of the Oakland A’s since the 1970s.  He pursued his passion thru coaching youth baseball as a teenager, and coached several championship teams over the years, most memorably the 1984-1985 Cardinals.  He also managed and played for many adult league championship teams, including the Red Line softball team in Santa Clara, and in the Sacramento region, Fubar, Hollywood Stars (softball) and Gold Country Miners (baseball) teams just to name a few.  He played an active role in the local men’s baseball league, Sacramento NABA (National Adult Baseball Association)  for over 15 years, and last served as President from 2013 to 2015, until his illness no longer allowed him to continue.

It was in 1992 that George moved to Citrus Heights at the invitation of his good friend Steve Monschau.  He fell in love with the South Placer County area and made it his home for the past 29 years. Not long after moving there, he met his former wife, Alicia, while they were working together at Hewlett Packard.  Eventually they were married and settled in Rocklin to raise their three beautiful children.

After holding down a wide range of jobs over the years, George found his niche in 1997 managing call centers for a small start up internet service provider that eventually evolved into Earthlink.  George's role at the company expanded to managing call centers across the country, and he enjoyed exploring the various cities he traveled to for business.  Wherever he visited, he would make sure to hit up a game at the local baseball stadium if an opportunity presented itself.

George shared a lot of good times with his buddies over the years - attending many rock concerts and festivals, traveling to ball games and Major League Baseball spring training in Arizona.  He also enjoyed hosting many legendary parties, especially around the Halloween and Christmas holidays.   Always a great story teller, George had lots of rich, entertaining experiences from which to draw material.  Whether walking into his home, or onto a baseball field, it was George’s voice, and laughter, you would always hear first.

A truly self-educated man, George enjoyed reading, and was always looking for ways he could improve himself, especially as a leader, coach, or ball player.  However, no role was more important to him than being a father to his three children.  He loved to spend time with his kids, participating in their team sports, attending school events, going to ball games, both the Sacramento River Cats and Oaklands A’s,  and taking family vacations together.  Being a father was what brought him the most pride and joy, a role cut far too short by early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

To quote the famous ball player, Jackie Robinson, “A life is not important except in the impact it has had on other lives”.  George has touched many, many lives over the years, and he became fast friends with everyone he met.  He will be deeply missed, and live on forever in the hearts of all who knew him.  In addition to his three children, Gehrig (17yrs), Taylor (15yrs) and Cooper (13yrs) George is survived by his father Alberto (stepmother Maria Fatima), his brother, Daniel (nieces Samantha, Cynthia) and his sister and brother in law, Lia and Brian Youngs.  He was preceded in death by his mother, Ana Maria who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in December 2014.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday September 1st at 11am at St. Clare Church in Santa Clara, CA.  There will also be a celebration of life held on Saturday, September 18th, 2pm at Steve & Ann Marie Monschau's residence, 5555 Sandy Road, Loomis, CA.