Margarate Virginia D'Souza

Margarate will be lovingly remembered by her children; Antoinette (Sebastian) Castana (KHI), Felix (Victoria) D'Souza, Priscilla (Francis) Fernandes, Patrick (Beverly) D'Souza, grandchildren; Savio, Valene (Mark) Pereira, Braz, Verna, Venetia, Valencia, Felicia, Prunella (Brenden) David, Nikita, Joshua and Aaron, her great-grandchildren; Seanna, Maximus and Benjamin.

She was predeceased by her husband Ignatius D'Souza.

Margarate was born in Goa, India in 1935 to parents Maria and John Almeida. She comes from a family of 4 children, she being the eldest, followed by her 3 younger brothers Peter, Braz, and Francis. At a young age they moved to Karachi, Pakistan where she spent the majority of her life. Margarate was extremely hard working from a young age, looking after her younger brothers while her mother went to work. Margarate was also a very brilliant student in school. She went on to complete her education and became a teacher and excelled in her career at Wendy School in Karachi. Margarate was a cheerful, friendly and helpful person. She had many friends, from whom she was introduced to the love of her life, Ignatius D’Souza. This began a new chapter in her life as they got married and had 4 children of their own, Ann, Felix, Priscilla, and Patrick. She primarily raised the children on her own while her husband worked away from home. Margarate was blessed with 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren, whom she loved dearly. She would often have her children and grandchildren over on the weekends where she would cook up a feast and everyone would enjoy her delicious food. She would also organize picnics to the beach with family and friends and enjoyed the time together as one big family. Some years later, 3 of her children and their families would migrate to Calgary, AB Canada where they eventually settled; Margarate followed suit and moved to Calgary as well, with her eldest daughter and her family remaining in Karachi.

She lived a beautiful life in Canada, making many friends and reconnecting with others. In 2005, Margarate and Ignatius celebrated their 50th Golden wedding anniversary, a very joyous moment in her life, celebrating with all their family and friends. Margarate would spend her time volunteering at Ascension Parish as an Honour Guard, and playing cards with friends at the Canosca. Margarate was also very independent, taking part in pilgrimage trips to Jerusalem in 2016 and Rome in 2017, after which time her health began to decline. Margarate suffered from dementia for the past 5 years, and spent her final days at Bethany Riverview where she was lovingly cared for by all the staff, doctors, nurses and of course her family. On behalf of Margarate’s family, we want to thank everyone at Bethany Riverview for the care they gave to our mom and grandmother.

A Funeral Mass will be held at Ascension Catholic Parish (1100 Berkshire Blvd NW, Calgary, Alberta T3K 3M3) on Saturday, February 17 at 12:00 p.m. There will be a time for visitation at Ascension Catholic Parish prior to mass at 11:15 a.m.

The mass will be livestreamed, those who would like to watch remotely may join by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J57xSxxJKnY

Her interment will take place in Calgary following the service.

Memorial donations in Margarate’s name may be made to Alzheimer Society of Canada www.alzheimer.ca