Francisco Vieira Meneses
LOWELL Francisco Vieira Meneses passed
away Thursday April 2nd at Lowell General Hospital’s main campus, with
his son, Joe by his side, following a brief illness.
He was born
February 8, 1934 to the late Manuel and the late Rosa Borba Meneses at
Lajes, on the Island of Terceira in the Portuguese Azores. As a young
man, he worked with his father on the family farm, tending the fields
and milking cows. He attended school in Lajes, and served the mandatory
period with the Portuguese military from 1955-1957.
He was a great
lover of the uniquely Terceirian carnival dance skits full of satire and
social commentary, dancing and playing the violin, and eating the
seasonal fried dough treats, filhós.
While working on a house
near The Valadao home, he first noticed the young Maria Natal. They
traded glances at church and public festivals until one day, being
jealous of another boy, he approached her, dressed in his army uniform,
asking for a kiss. She replied, “You go home and kiss your mother”. He
married Maria Natal Valadao December 30, 1959, and they would spend the
next 60 years together. They made their home in Lajes, and he worked
as a fuel attendant at Mobil Gas on the American air base, Lajes Field.
In 1972 he emigrated with his family to Lowell, Massachusetts, at the
invitation of his brothers-in-law, Laurence and Jose Valadao. Like many
immigrant men of his time, Frank was enchanted by big American cars.
His first major purchase was a green 1971 Buick Skylark.
He worked
as a vinyl printer at Pandel, which later became Bradford Industries in
Lowell, and retired in 1996 after he was injured in a rear-end auto
accident.
He was a humble man whose passions were his violin,
carnival dances, street bull fights, beer, camel cigarettes, sweet rice
pudding, and giving freely to his sons and grandson. He loved keeping
his yard pristine, and surveying it on summer afternoons from his
bench. Passers-by would comment on his commitment to keeping active in
his declining years, as they watched him pace back and forth on the
sidewalk with his walker.
He is preceded in death by his
parents, his brother, Manuel, his sister, Juvenalia, his infant twin
sisters, Ilda and Alace, and an infant brother, Francisco. He leaves his
wife, Maria Natal (Valadao) of Lowell; his son, Frank and his wife,
Grace Costa of N. Ft. Meyers, FL; his son, Joe and his partner, Fred
Skinner of Lowell; and his grandson, Keith and his wife, Jenny of
Andover, and two great-grandchildren, Celina and Kai Meneses. Also
surviving are his sister-in-law, Natal Valadao, his nephew, Delio
Valadao, and his nieces, Eulalia Rapposo of Lowell, and Filomena Avila
of Ontario, CA; his niece, Juvenalia Sousa and nephew, Fernando Meneses
of Lajes, Terceira, Azores; his nephew, Dino Valadao of Praia, and
niece, Elizabeth Alves of Ribeirinha, Terceira, Azores.
Due to
MA state regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, private graveside
services will take place at Lowell Cemetery. A memorial mass will be
planned for a later date and announced on the McDonough Funeral Home's
Facebook page and website.
