Obituary of INEZ DA CONCEICAO PEREIRA

INEZ da CONCEICAO PEREIRA

Inez da Conceicao Pereira, 91, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on June 18, 2019 at Grace Hospital. 

Mom was born in Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal on January 20, 1928.

She lived the majority of her life in Winnipeg’s West End after immigrating to Canada on July 1st, 1960.

She was predeceased by her parents, siblings, beloved son Jose Manuel Reis (2000) and former husband Luis dos Santos Reis (2004).

She leaves to celebrate her life, her son Luis Pereira Reis (Monica) her beloved granddaughters Rebecca and Emily and many nieces and nephews. 

Mom worked as a sewing machine operator in the local Winnipeg garment industry for over 30 years retiring at the age of 65 in 1993.

The pillars of mom’s life were her faith, her family and her home. 

She was a devoted Christian and long time member of St. Edward’s Roman Catholic Church on Arlington Street, down the lane from the house she proudly owned and maintained.  She looked forward to Sunday mornings when she would walk to church and back with her friends and neighbours, sharing in their faith along the way. Mom would be heard regularly thanking God for her very blessed life. This sentiment continued right up to her final year at Calvary Place Personal Care Home.

Mom was the youngest girl of 11 children and lost her parents at a very young age. As a result, she became very close to her many loving sisters and brothers. Mom was most proud of being a parent to her two sons Jose and Luis and daughter-in-law Monica and grandparent to her two granddaughters Rebecca and Emily. With unconditional love, she fostered in them the importance of maintaining dignity and respect for everyone including family, friends and strangers. Her greatest sadness was losing Jose to cancer at the young age of 43. Although mom was heart-broken at this loss, she sought fulfillment by doting on Rebecca and Emily and by sharing her love with others as a surrogate mother to many nieces and nephews who had lost their parents along the way.

Mom believed in the saying that, “Home is where the heart is.” She had very little desire to travel abroad or to stray too far from her house. Given the choice to travel, she would always prefer to stay at home. Mom enjoyed hosting her relatives, especially welcoming her nephews with some home made wine or cold beer. Mom was fiercely independent. She could hammer a nail and saw a piece of wood better than most. She proudly built her own arbour for her grapevines and kept small but fruitful vegetable and flower gardens. She especially looked forward to Spring when Monica would accompany her to pick out plants for the season. Although she knew she needed to eventually move into a personal care home, she always dreamed about her home and wanted to make sure it was being well looked after.

Rest In Peace
descanse em paz

We, the family of Inez Pereira, are very proud to call her our mother and grandmother. On behalf of our family, we would like to thank you, our extended family and friends, for your support during this time. 

Prayers will be held at Cropo Funeral Chapel, 1442 Main St., on Tuesday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. 

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 26 at 10:00 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 181 Austin St. N. Honorary Pall Bearers are Andrew Costa, Weber Costa, Bryce DeSousa-Mailey, Joe Inacio, Amanda Sousa and Rebecca Sousa.

Interment to follow at Assumption Cemetery, 3990 Portage Ave.