Beatrice Joan Souza, 95, slipped from her earthly bounds and into the waiting arms of her heavenly Father on May 21, 2017. Visitation: 4 – 7 p.m. Thursday, May 25, 2017, at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Marion. Funeral Mass: 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 26, 2017, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Marion, conducted by Father David O’Connor. Burial: Oak Shade Cemetery, Marion.
Beatrice was born on January 3, 1922, the fifth child of Albina Gloria (Ventura) Munise and Manuel Munise, in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. She attended school in Bridgewater, Massachusetts through the eighth grade after which she worked on the family farm. She was later employed in Stoughton, Massachusetts. She married Jesse Souza on September 1, 1946 at St. Thomas Aquinas church in Bridgewater. They made their home in Cambridge, and then Medford, Massachusetts where they raised their family and lived through most of their retirement. In 2010, she and Jesse moved to Marion, Iowa, where she resided until her passing.
She is survived by her daughter, Beatrice Ann Horning and husband Gale; son, Frank Souza and his wife Kim; grandchildren, Stacey (Kevin) Klostermann, Kelly (Dustin) Maymon, Tina Souza, Dawn (Charles) Adney, Eric Souza, Benjamin Souza, and Emily Souza (Steve Tomlinson); great-grandchildren, Hailey, Brendan, and Andrew Klostermann, Charles and Greenlee Adney, and Addelynn Souza. She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Jesse Souza, on July 8, 2013.
Beatrice will always be remembered for her fierce devotion to her family and those others that she chose to love. She was never afraid of hard work and relished in reminding us how easy us “city kids” had it. Her impetuous grin and her infectious laugh will be remembered by all who knew or met her. Beatrice enjoyed playing cards and bingo, doing puzzles, and maintained her cunning Rumikub skills until the end. These past three years, she crocheted hats for the St. Luke’s Auxiliary.
Her family would like to thank the staff at Village Place and Village Ridge for their care and concern over the last seven years and to UnityPoint Hospice for their exceptional attention and care of our family this last five months.