Manuel Pereida Leos Iii

Manuel Pereida Leos III

With the sun rising and surrounded by daffodils, his favorite flowers, Manuel Pereida Leos III left his beloved family and earthly home on April 25, 2025. His family was all around him as he peacefully slipped into eternal rest. Born October 1st, 1948, in Quanah Texas to Soledad (Garcia) Leos and Manuel P Leos, Manuel was the oldest son of sisters and brothers.

Until he was 5 years old, Manuel's home was in San Antonio, near his beloved maternal grandmother, Monica Villacobos. He made a lifetime of memories with his siblings at this precious woman's home. Work opportunities brought the family to Michigan, settling in the small, rural community of Woodland, where Manuel attended Woodland Elementary School—making lifelong friends. Throughout life, he told stories of the woods he played in, beach trips to Jordan Lake with best friends Frank Colon and Larry Vroman during the summers and basketball, baseball and football practices and games. Manuel was an exceptional athlete; many people came to see him play his games…

Manuel loved life! Opportunities were adventures he was determined to take—the man worked successfully at so many endeavors. Believing life was "too short to do work you didn't like," he moved on—His true work career passion always brought him back to retail—especially grocery-- like his maternal grandparents. He worked in retail management many years before buying a building and creating one of the first "party stores" in Olivet Michigan. He named his business, the "Double Nickel." He was diligent as his very successful business grew in the college town. He spoke often throughout his later life about the varied opportunities he thrived in with his business.

Manuel was preceded in death by his parents, as well as siblings and extended family and close friends. The loss of each person touched him deeply—most especially, the death of his grandson, Mateo Leos.

Manuel is survived by his life-long wife/partner, Joan (Curtis) Leos. Manuel and Joan have known each other since 4th Grade—65 years. They were married in July, 1967 and became parents to the real loves of his life; his children—Lana (Ken) Leos-Tuitman and grandchildren, Lainie, Avery, Anderson and Kaeden; Amy Leos and her children, Madelyn, Lillian, Quinn and Maximilian; Travis (Rachel) Leos, oldest grandson, Jordan Allen Leos, and daughters, Emiri and Anahera. Grandpa's relationship with his "perfect" grandchildren was reflected in the "To  the Moon and Back" love he openly shared with them…he was called Gpa, grampie, gramps…all by grandkids who adored him.

Manuel was a very confident, insightful, life-loving man. He awoke each day proclaiming it was, "A beautiful day!" He was very open about the love he had for those closest to him. Regardless of health , he always proclaimed himself, "Well…doing good." He loved his cats, especially Lucy—giving her credit for helping him make it through Covid and his big Maine Coon cat, Mr. Frankie. Frankie and Manuel "talked" every morning to start their day. Manuel was always a movie buff—his family used to load into the station wagon and go to drive-ins that played movies all night. Sometimes it would be movie showings on the side of hip roof barns—regardless, Manuel watched varied venues of movies all his life. He was also an avid reader—believing an informed man was not a fool, whether his views were acknowledged, or not. He and Joan had many hours of discussions about nature, history, religion, politics, children and education and more.

Manuel loved riding motorcycles throughout the years. He shared hours discussing bike adventures with his brother-in-law, Jack Curtis. Their mutual love of the sport made for great entertainment and memories—he had more than one scar from motorcycle escapades gone too far. Manuel really appreciated woodworking; while not doing the work himself, he admired quality woods and techniques to work with wood—being so happy Jim Curtis was fulfilling their mutual interest in Jim's retirement.

It is not possible to overstate Manuel's pride in his children and grandchildren's accomplishments, goals and endeavors throughout their lives. He was such a diversely talented man himself, he valued the diversity in training, education and work the kids chose for themselves. He said among them, we had everything the world needed for betterment. He included his many nieces and nephews in that assessment, being so proud of all of them and their children. Manuel was so proud of his sisters and brother for their commitment to their children, which he said showed itself in the lives the nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews are building—his deep love and appreciation for his brother-in-law, Claude Smith, cannot be overstated. He said Claude taught him everything a boy should know and gave him the things every boy should have—Manuel's love of sport hunting and chess playing he credited to Claude—along with so much more he spoke of lifelong.

Manuel's core belief was that having a family that grew to become more successful than he was,  was to have been a successful man, mentor, inspiration. Manuel was a "man's man"—eliciting respect while being very tenacious. He was a man of deep Christian faith, while reading about and appreciating other religions and cultures. He said the world was diverse but so much the same at its core. Manuel had a deep respect for the laws of God. He was very happy with his life yet recognized when it was his time to leave this earth. He did most of what he did in life with that infectious laugh and joy—his family was fortunate to have his ear and awareness to his last breath Friday morning.

A graveside memorial service will be held at a later date. Manuel will be laid to rest where he always asked to be, next to Joan. Manuel had a way of making his life his own—doing what he wanted, when he wanted—he said life was too short to waste being someone other than himself. This man will be heartfelt missed by the many who knew and loved him.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to assist the family with funeral expenses: https://square.link/u/VAjUc68h .

Services provided by Girrbach Funeral Home, Hastings, Michigan. To leave online condolances visit www.girrbachfuneralhome.net .