Mary PIRES

PIRES, Mary Maggie" July 22, 1916 December 27, 2011 Maria Magdalena (Mary" or Maggie") Pires, nee de Souza, was born in her maternal grandfather's home in Anjuna, Goa, India. In 1939, she married Edward Eddie" Pires, from the same ancestral village, Nagoa, in Goa, India. Since then, Maggie travelled with Eddie wherever his work took him: Mumbai, Peshawar in present-day Pakistan, Nagpur, Delhi, and then further afield to Manila in the Philippines and Beirut in Lebanon. She and Eddie when he retired in 1976 immigrated to Victoria, Canada, where three of their five children live. The two elder daughters had joined the Presentation Sisters in Pakistan/ India. In the Philippines, Mary was active in the Catholic Family Movement while in Victoria she was active in the Sacred Heart Parish, the Catholic Women's League and St. Vincent de Paul's Society. She was also part of a craft group and helped make beautiful items for sale for the parish bazaar. She and Eddie started the family tradition of having the entire family for lunch every Sunday. In 1999 they moved to a condo at St. Clare Villa, adjoining St. Patrick's Church. Here she spent her remaining years, 12,700 kilometres from her place of birth, until she went to her eternal life. She is predeceased by her parents, two brothers, and her husband [in 2003] and is survived by her five children Sister Gemma, PBVM, Sister Lisa, PBVM, Ben (Laila), Selma (Allan Sequeira), and Vina (Julian Pereira) 10 grandchildren Karl Pires (Saho Bessho), Jason Pires (Sophie Lui), Serena Pires (Amit Ahuja), Dwayne Sequeira (Jenny Beitel), Nerine Sequeira (Nicholas Orango), Joline Sequeira, Tania Pereira (Don Wharton), Elton Pereira (Lisa Allin), Adrian Pereira (Kelly Donetz) and Myron Pereira and 13 great grandchildren: Misha Pires; Kaiya and Reyan Ahuja; Danielle Head; Gabriel and Marisa Sequeira; Makayo Orango; Ethan, Sienna and Nolan Wharton; and Luke, Keira and Kai Pereira. The family would like to thank Dr. Tracy Mihalynuk, her assistant, Heather Geerdink, Tess Coral, Hospice's palliative care team, nurses and homecare givers for their professional and compassionate care of Mary. A celebration of Mary's life will be held at St. Patrick's Church, 2060 Haultain Street on Thursday, December 29, at 2 p.m. Donations in lieu of flowers in Mary's memory may be made for projects for the poorest of the poor children in India in the name of Sister Gemma Pires. This would be in keeping with her life of simplicity and her desire to help the poor in any part of the world. She has responded to many requests for financial help and support and has encouraged her children and grandchildren to do the same. Any donations may be addressed to Sister Gemma Pires, St. Clare Villa #103, 2045 Carrick Street, Victoria, BC V8R 2M5, Canada. 645439