Congratulations to one of the most popular people in Berkeley, Quentin “Chuck” Moore, the manager of Berkeley Ace Hardware, who on Nov. 23 will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the day he started working there.

He’s the kind of guy who will leave no stone unturned, no matter how much trouble it takes, to make sure a customer has exactly the right tool or part for the job. The rest of the staff takes its cue from him and treats customers the same way. Don’t think the customers don’t appreciate it either.

“There’s an Ace Hardware near my house,” says Ken Louie, who lives and works in San Rafael. “But I’d rather drive to Berkeley to see Chuck and the gang. I know it’s going to sound like an exaggeration, but it’s true: He’s the ultimate person, and he’s absolutely genuine about that. You talk to him, and he makes you feel special. If he’s talking to somebody else, he makes them feel special. Finally, it dawned on me: It’s Chuck who’s special!”

Actually, he’d rather be called Quentin, but he’s too nice a guy to correct anyone.

He arrives at work each morning on his black Harley Davidson classic motorcycle, but at the end of the day he doesn’t go back home. Instead, he walks down the street to Berkeley High School, where he volunteers as an assistant offensive line coach for the football team.

“He’s great with kids,” says retired Berkeley police Capt. Waymon Jenkins, who volunteers as the assistant special teams coach. “They’re just trying to find their way in life, and they have problems like anger issues. But he’s able to calm them down and get their respect right away. There used to be a lot of games when we had fights, but that stuff has cooled way down. And for that we have to thank Coach Moore.

“I’ve never heard him swear at a kid. In fact, I’ve never heard him swear at all. If a player makes a mistake, he’ll say, ‘Get in there and don’t do it again,’ and that’s it. He also doesn’t let them skip classes. He tells them, ‘You can’t get out on the field if you don’t have the grades; but more importantly, this is your future.’ It’s really important for the kids to understand that.”

And they remember the lessons he taught them long after they’ve grown up, like the man who was the coach for an opposing team. Quentin didn’t recognize him until he took his COVID-19 mask off and said, “Coach Moore, don’t you remember me? You’re the reason I coach because of the way you coached me.”

“He also has a tender heart for older people,” says Louie. “He loves to help them out.”

But it’s not all fun and games. As manager of a store in the middle of downtown Berkeley, Quentin has had to deal with his share of crises, and to that end he dutifully keeps up to date with his first aid training, including CPR for cardiac arrests, strokes and suffocation cases.

He’s had his share of famous customers too, including Nicholas Cage, who bought a toy train; Whoopi Goldberg, who asked him to be her personal assistant for the day to keep away the autograph seekers (“Sometimes she came in disguise, but it never worked. People always knew who she was,” Moore says); and Stephen Hawking, who arrived with an entourage of six people to check out the model trains.

“He just loved those trains! The hobby department was in the basement, so we brought him down on the elevator. He said, ‘You have a very nice store.’ I showed him some books about trains, and he bought them all.”

“But he’s not about selling you stuff,” says Louie. “We’ve got several pictures of our two daughters and him, and I noticed he’s got one of them posted on the wall near his desk. You can’t see it from the customer’s side, but he can see it from where he’s sitting. My girls met him when they were in elementary school. Now they’re in college, but they still love their Uncle Chuck. Every business needs a person like Chuck, and every person needs a friend like Chuck.”

Or Quentin, if you prefer. Shakespeare was right: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Martin Snapp can be reached at catman442@comcast.net.