Maria Patricia (Gomes) Gonsalves, 89, passed away peacefully on July 10, 2007 at Cape Cod Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. She was the wife of the late Abel N. Gonsalves, to whom she was married for 60 years.
Born and raised in New Bedford, she was the daughter of the late Gregorio and Floripa (Martins) Gomes and graduated in 1937 from New Bedford Vocational High School. She worked as an assembler at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and later as a teller at the New Bedford Institution for Savings before moving to her new home on Lovers Lane in East Lyme, CT. In Niantic, she worked as a dental assistant and was involved in many volunteer projects. She enjoyed sewing and was always ready to help someone in need.
While growing up in New Bedford, she was a parishioner of Our Lady of the Assumption Church. In Connecticut, she attended St. Matthias Catholic Church and was a member of the International Chapter P.E.O. Sisterhood Chapter Y of Mystic. She was also involved in her husband's church, the Niantic Baptist Church.
She will be missed by her cousin Palmira "Pal" Barboza, with whom she stayed with whenever she was in New Bedford; her guardian, Patricia J. Silveira and her husband Albert "Abbie" Gomes; and nieces, nephews, cousins and the friends she made during her 40 years in Niantic who continued to remember her with telephone calls and cards.
She was the sister of the late George Gomes, Antonio "ToToi" Gomes and Laura DaLomba.
Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 9 AM in Our Lady of the Assumption Church. Burial will follow in Highland Memorial Park, Johnston, RI. Visiting hours will be on Friday from 5-7 PM in the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.