Maria Eduarda Azevedo

Azevedo, Maria Eduarda passed with peace and grace on May 12, 2015 in San Diego, California. She is predeceased by her parents, Francisco and Maria de Conceicao Correia and her late husband John Simas Azevedo.

Maria was born in Ponta Delgada, San Miguel, Azores in 1928 As a young woman, Maria and her family immigrated to Fall River Massachusetts in 1948. During a later transatlantic passage from the U.S. to the Azores, she met the love of her life, John and was married in 1957. Together they were active in the Portuguese community of Point Loma. Maria participated in many Portuguese societies and sang in the Portuguese choir at St. Agnes Church. She was a mother and homemaker who took great pride in all she did.

Maria is survived by her son John, her daughter-in-law Barbara, two grandsons Jonathon and Michael, all of whom reside in San Diego. She is also survived by her brother Fernando Correia of San Diego, sister -in-law, Deodette Monise of San Diego, Maria Azevedo Alves, of Pico, Azores , brother-in-law Domingos Azevedo of San Diego and many loving nieces and nephews.

Maria approached life with a beautiful heart. Her kind and generous spirit will be deeply missed by all.

A Mass will be held on Friday, May 29, 2015 at 10:00 AM at St. Agnes Catholic Church. A graveside service will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Eulogy

May 29, 2015

All of us here today knew Maria in many different ways. Some may have known her as a singer in the Choir. Others, as someone who volunteered her time in the kitchen of the SES hall. Some of us knew her as a Neighbor, Godmother, Sister, Aunt or Vavo. And I’m sure most remember her as the devoted wife of her husband, John. As for me, I just knew her as “Mom”.

For those naysayers who don’t believe in fate I often cite my very own existence. How improbable that 2 people from 2 different Azorian Islands would meet and fall in love on an Ocean liner filled with hundreds of people. Never mind that one was a “Picorutte” from Pico and the other a “Miguelence” from San Miguel – a match that would make for spirited debates on which accent was the most horriffic for decades. But, meet they did, marriage soon followed and a new life was begun.

Things were not immediately perfect – My mom spent many days and nights alone while her husband was out fishing. But she percerviered, maintained a home with very little in the way of income and faithfully waited for her husband’s return. It was difficult but she managed to make the best of it - until I came along and threw a wrench into the works. Fishing had to end. A new phase in life was to begin.

With a baby came a tough but more agreeable job for her husband – for her, a new house for her to keep and a child to raise. They were continuing to set roots and become part of a community. Of course, Family was the most central aspect of her next phase of life. Even though we lived in Spring Valley for those first few years we made the trek to Point Loma often to visit and be together with friends and family. To me, there seemingly were WEEKLY functions at the SES Hall that I was being dragged to. Eventually we moved to Point Loma, so at least those weekly trips to the hall were quicker commutes. The move to Point Loma made it easier for my parents to continue their involvement in the community.

Mom continued her involvement at the hall, joined the church choir, and enjoyed time with a group of good friends who formed a social group called the Merry Dozen – life was good. The years passed and eventually her perfect child married the perfect woman - the daughter she never had. Still more years passed – my father’s retirement meant travel and time together – the “Golden Years” were about to begin. There were trips to Europe & Hawaii – all the thing people dream of doing in retirement were being done. Unfortunately the golden years were far too brief and the light in my Mom began to dim when her husband was taken from her far too soon.

The change was not immediate - at first there were events which helped keep the light in her eyes. There was another trip to Portugal. This time with Me, my wife, mom, Beverly and Trish. My mom was buoyant – she loved it. However, I hate to say – she was the worst interpreter EVER. I would ask her to ask someone a question and she would ask the question – in ENGLISH. Eventually she would figure it out – only to get the answer I needed and repeat it back to me – IN PORTUGESE.

My mother couldn’t be called adventurous – but somehow on that trip…. We were at an old castle turned into a hotel. There was a very narrow spiral staircase which was blocked by big DO NOT ENTER signs – but my lovely bride wanted to see where the staircase led and up she went -closely followed by my mom, trish , Beverly and an amazed me. We all went up – risking detection with each step – because we were all shrieking with laughter. Nobody was laughing louder than my mom. I still remember the look on her face when we reached the end of the staircase – on the roof of the hotel / castle. It was priceless and I’ll never forget the joy in her eyes. Years later, Grandchildren were born and involvement with Family continued but with time came further withdrawal.

Over these past few days Barbara and I went through all my mom’s old photo albums – hundreds, maybe thousands of photos. We were struck by the older photos; the one’s from when my father was still with us – there was always a family function, birthdays, holidays, and beach parties – always a big smile on my mom’s face. A lightness of being, carefree – the happiness was almost palpable. That was not the case the last several years of her life. When my father died - a slow and insidious shadow dimmed the smile, a weight on the lightness of being. And as the ravages of time began to exert its toll on the body, the pain and indignity of age – the spirit suffered. But she remained the gentle and loving lady she had always been– qualities time and sadness couldn’t take away.

She always wanted people to be happy, Mom hated it when only one person won all the money on Wheel of Fortune – she wanted everyone to win. Everyone to be happy – that was all she wanted for everyone. But for her happiness, that lightness of being and laughter was increasingly infrequent and then almost nonexistent. Without her husband to buoy her – she continued to sink.

I’m comforted by the fact her last days in this world were good. We had a very nice Mother’s Day at our house. My Mom joined us along with Barbara’s Mom, Jean for a wonderful brunch – her first time out in several weeks. She enjoyed a pleasant afternoon with her grandsons and the smile returned. Two days later - The day she died – my wife, Barbara, spent a very pleasant hour with her at Canyon Villas. One of the staff members commented how great my mom was doing – for the first time in months she rose up on her own, sat herself down for lunch. She exhibited strength and a positive emotional demeanor which surprised everyone. That same staff member also mentioned how my mom had been saying her husband was waiting for her and that she needed to go meet him. She left us two hours later. While we were shocked and saddened by the loss I think we should be glad for her. I know that the lightness and the laughter have returned and she is with friends and family - perhaps drinking a “pingingho du vino” and dancing a Chamarita or two with my dad.