Maria Fernanda Duarte
Loving Wife, Mother and Grandmother
LOWELL Maria Fernanda Duarte passed away quickly, painlessly and peacefully on April 7th, 2015 at Lowell General Hospital in the company of her children and family.
Maria was the 1st child born on May 12, 1933 in Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal to the late Maria Conceição Nunes DeFreitas and Jose DeFreitas. She was raised and educated in that area and worked as a talented embroiderer making many detailed tapestries for over 20 years before traversing the ocean in October of 1969. She married the love of her life Edward ‘Eddie’ Duarte in 1970 at St. Anthony church in Lowell, MA, spending 40 glorious years together till his passing in 2010. The couple settled in Lowell, MA where they raised their two daughters; Nancy and Sandra. Maria was a devoted communicant of St. Anthony Church.
Maria was an avid and tenacious gardener; her passion was working on her garden where she spent most of her time tending to her flowers and vegetables. Above all, she was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and sister who loved spending time with her family who meant the world to her as they equally adored her. She loved holidays and family get-togethers; any chance to spend time with her family was important to her. She would spend hours cooking and preparing the most delicious food for her company. She was an inspiring woman – always positive, adventurous, strong, and full of energy. She was brilliant, kind, passionate and unwavering in her love and support of her family. She was a fantastic role model for her daughters and the world’s best grandma to her three grandchildren.
Maria is survived and will be dearly missed by her children, Nancy Duarte-Lonnroth and her husband, Dale Lonnroth, Jr, of Derry, NH, and Sandra Tavares and her husband, Roberto Tavares, of Litchfield, NH; three granddaughters, Sophia Lonnroth, Isabelle Lonnroth and Alana Tavares; her brother, Antonio De Freitas and his wife Nazare of Ontario, Canada; and her sisters, Virginia (Maria da Cruz) Milewski and her husband, Peter of Lowell, MA; and Maria Amalia de Freitas and her husband Fernando of Ontario, Canada. Her sense of humor, quick wit, overwhelming generosity and loyalty will also be missed by many godchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins in the US, Canada, Madeira and elsewhere; as well as her large extended family and many friends.
She was predeceased by her loving husband, Edward Duarte; brothers, Raymond (Raimundo) De Freitas and Joseph N. DeFreitas, sister-n-law, Mary DeFreitas and brother-n-laws, Edward D, Gonzalo J. and Joseph J. Duarte.
YOU ARE INVITED TO HER CALLING HOURS 4 UNTIL 8 P.M. ON FRIDAY, APRIL 10. ON SATURDAY, HER FUNERAL WILL BEGIN AT 9 A.M. AT THE MCDONOUGH FUNERAL HOME, 14 HIGHLAND STREET, LOWELL 978-458-6816. HER FUNERAL MASS WILL BE OFFERED AT ST. ANTHONY CHURCH, 893 CENTRAL ST, LOWELL AT 10 A.M.. BURIAL IN ST. PATRICK CEMETERY. MEMORIALS IN HER NAME TO Avon Foundation for Women, BREAST CANCER CRUSADE, Attn: Donations, 1 Avon Plaza, Rye, NY 10580.
