Anthony Barcellos

Anthony Barcellos
April 4, 1951 – June 27, 2024

Anthony (Tony) Barcellos died peacefully at Mercy San Juan Medical Center on Thursday, June 27 at the age of 73. Tony died from complications after he suffered a stroke on June 7.

Tony was born to parents Anthony and Mary Barcellos of Porterville, California on April 4, 1951. Tony was raised on the family dairy farm founded by his grandfather, and Tony spoke Portuguese as his first language.

Tony’s intellect was evident from an early age and as a child cultivated his lifelong love of reading. He graduated with honors from Porterville High School in 1969 and then attended Porterville College, where Tony earned his associate’s degree and the Scholar of the Year award. While at Porterville College, Tony was inspired to become a math instructor after taking a calculus class taught by Clyde Wilcoxon.

In 1971, Tony was accepted into the California Institute of Technology, where he received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1973. He earned his master’s degree in mathematics only one year later from California State University, Fresno.

In summer 1974, Tony moved to Davis to begin work on his doctorate in mathematics at University of California (UC) Davis. He was also a student instructor while there and won accolades for his teaching, and he also branched out into journalism and government.

Tony become a science reporter at the Albuquerque Journal newspaper during the summer of 1978. When progress on his doctorate stalled the next year, Tony became a Fellow in the California State Senate in the office of Senator Albert S. Rodda of Sacramento.

When Rodda was defeated for re-election in 1980, Tony went with Senator Rodda to the newly formed Commission on State Finance in early 1981. Tony worked there for six years while also teaching at night as a math instructor at Cosumnes River College.

Tony become a full-time math instructor at American River College in August 1987, where he taught until his death. He quickly became popular and highly regarded by students and faculty; he won the campus Instructor of the Year award in 1996 and the Los Rios Community College District Patrons Chair Award in 2014.

When Tony turned 50 in 2001, he decided to go back to school and get his Ph.D. in Math Education from UC Davis, which he earned in 2005. The title of his doctoral dissertation is Mathematical Misconceptions of College-Age Algebra Students.

Tony was also a prominent figure in the early days of personal computing as a leader in the Sacramento PC Users Group (SPCUG), one of the largest computer clubs in the 1980s and early 1990s. He produced 65 issues of Sacra Blue, the SPCUG monthly magazine, from 1985 through 1990, and also wrote a PC Magazine column. Tony served as SPCUG president from 1992 to 1996.

As a polymath, Tony enjoyed both math and writing. After Tony retired from Sacra Blue, he co-authored Calculus and Analytic Geometry, Fifth Edition with his UC Davis mentor Sherman Stein that McGraw-Hill published in 1992.Tony published his last book A Stroll Through Calculus in 2015, which is a calculus primer for non-STEM majors. The book is currently used in a non-STEM calculus course at Brigham Young University-Idaho.

Tony was proud of his Portuguese heritage, and in 2009 he wrote a roman à clef novel based on his experiences on the family dairy farm. In 2012, Tagus Press published the book with the title Land of Milk and Money. The book was hailed as one of the best expressions of the Portuguese immigrant experience in California.

In the late 2010s, Tony was a freelance arts reporter for The Sacramento Bee, which was a perfect fit because Tony was an enthusiastic, lifelong fan of classical music and opera in Davis, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

Tony was a friend and mentor to many in the greater Sacramento community and beyond. He is deeply loved and missed by his mother Mary, younger siblings Mary, Tom, and Eric, numerous nieces and nephews, his colleagues, many students, and his many friends.