Maria Amelia (Santos) Rosa
LOWELL Maria Amelia (Santos) Rosa, 100 years of age, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at her home with her family by her side. She was the wife of the late Antonio S. Rosa who passed away March 11, 1994 after fifty-seven years of marriage.
Maria was born on April 15, 1915 in Faial, Azores, Portugal and was a daughter of the late Antonio Andrade and the late Luisa Santos. She grew up in Faial where she was educated before relocating to the United States in April of 1960, settling in Lowell. She then became a US Citizen in 1965 and resided in Lowell since. Maria was a Cursillista and very active in the Cursillo movement.
She resided in the back Central Street neighborhood and was a devoted communicant of St. Anthony Parish, where she was a Eucharistic Minister. Maria was very active in the Portuguese Community and was a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Holy Rosary Sodality, the Holy Ghost Society. She directed her own prayer group every Friday for over 16 years and would read the Bible everyday. Maria enjoyed gardening, cooking, singing, playing the guitar, traveling and shopping. Although she had many passions throughout her life, her favorite pastime was spending time with her family and especially, helping babysit her grandchildren.
Maria is survived by her four children, Maria Amelia Pombeiro and her late husband, Jose of Lowell, Maria Fatima Mendonca and her husband, Joseph of Lowell, Jerry Rosa and his wife, Maxine of Hampton, NH and Antonio M. Rosa of Lowell; and her seven grandchildren, Elsa Pombeiro and her husband, Richard LaFond of Merrimack, NH, Anthony Rosa and his girlfriend, Joanne Stapf of Litchfield, NH, Edward Mendonca and his wife, Danise of Salem, MA, Sandra Hymowitz and her husband, Jodie of Vacaville, CA, Carmen Pombeiro and her husband, John Wallace of Lowell, Debora Cote and her husband, Steve of Nashua, NH, and Daniel Rosa of Hudson, NH. She is also survived by six great grandchildren, Joshua and Veronica Mendonca, Julia and Sophia Cote, Aidan and Ava Hymowitz; and many nieces and nephews.
YOU ARE INVITED TO HER CALLING HOURS FROM 2 UNTIL 6 P.M. ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 24. ON MONDAY, HER FUNERAL WILL BEGIN AT 9 A.M. AT THE MCDONOUGH FUNERAL HOME, 14 HIGHLAND STREET, LOWELL. HER FUNERAL MASS WILL BE OFFERED AT ST. ANTHONY PARISH, 893 CENTRAL STREET, LOWELL AT 10 A.M.. BURIAL IN ST. PATRICK CEMETERY. IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, DONATIONS IN HER NAME MAY BE MADE TO ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY, C/O ST. ANTHONY CHURCH, 893 CENTRAL STREET, LOWELL, MA 01852.
