Alice (Cruz) Belo

Alice was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the first of nine siblings to Antonio and Maria Luiza Cruz, recent Portuguese immigrants. At three she was taken to Portugal for a short visit with her grandparents that ended up being seven years. When finally returned to the golden shores she spoke no English and was thrust into Catholic school at a time when immigrants were expected to pick up English by osmosis. Fortunately she was a quick learner and attended grade school in Mineola, Long Island and Stonington, CT where her father was a commercial fisherman. At 14 she had to leave school to help support the growing family. She met John Belo at a Valentine’s Day dance after which she accepted a ride home with him and his uncle, “forgetting” her gloves in the car to give him an excuse to call again. He did not take the hint and had his uncle return them; but fortunately love prevailed over that false start and they were married in April, 1942.

Alice visited John, in the army now, at Camp Croft, GA, where sparks flew and John Jr. entered the picture nine months later in May 1944. A few days later John Senior was wounded while fighting in Anzio, Italy. Not to be undone by her husband’s sacrifice in the war effort, Alice did her Rosie the Riveter part by helping build, while pregnant, some of the 12,000+ Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter planes that destroyed more enemy planes than did any other allied naval aircraft.

When John returned he took up again as a mason contractor. They bought a house and Mary Alice came along in 1947. They maintained good homes in Mineola and Southampton that were gathering places for numerous friends, cousins, eight brother and sisters and 25 nieces and nephews. While we kids were out waterskiing, fishing, beach-going and partying Alice handled hosting duties so skillfully that we never appreciated her talents until called on in our married lives to do the same. The planning, shopping, logistics, and effort that went into it were incredible. She never complained and to this day those weekends remain some of the fondest memories of grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was a wonderful and creative mother who taught "classes" to Mary-Alice on cooking, sewing and other skills necessary to later raise her own family. John got his classes through her leadership in Cub Scouts. She may have been even better as a grandmother who orchestrated cooking, sewing, beauty parlor, and other creative classes for her granddaughters that were not just fun but highly instructive.

She was a great reader and learner who started John Jr. and Mary Alice in their love of books and reading with early trips to the Mineola Library. And despite her truncated education she was able to teach English as a foreign language in adult education at Mineola High School. She taught religious instruction to the grade-schoolers at her parishes in Mineola and Cape Coral, FL. Despite John Jr.’s loud protestations at leaving his friends, she insisted that he attend a prestigious private high school that led the way to Georgetown University and a successful business career. She saw to it that her daughter, Mary-Alice, prepare for future gainful employment by attending secretarial school which participated in mixers at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where she met her future husband, Larry

De Spain.

Through grit and determination she rose above her poor immigrant family situation, her incomplete education, and depression-era deprivation. Largely self- educated, she became a successful real estate broker and investor with John Sr. Together they converted single family homes to two-family, income- producing properties.

She was a Cub Scout pack leader whose pack won almost every monthly award for scout projects. She joined numerous clubs and activities including choir in Mineola and Southampton, Long Island and Cape Coral, Florida. She appeared in off-Broadway caliber productions such as Camelot at the Mineola Playhouse (where she had a solo as Morgan Le Fey) and at Seven Lakes in Fort Myers. She even won awards in baking contests. How did she ever accomplish all this!

She will be well-remembered for her wonderful sense of humor and creativity. When her cousin’s daughter refused to give up the breast, she drew an ugly face on her cousin’s breast to stop the kid in her tracks. The kid eyed the face, hesitated for only a second and went right back suckling, much to the amusement of all the lady cousins present.

After John Senior’s death in 2010, she and her beloved sister Ida Barilla took a two bedroom apartment at Gulf Coast Village where they enjoyed movies, concerts, shopping trips, and exercise programs along with meeting many new friends. She and Ida delighted in all the women who said that they could not imagine living with their sisters. They never had a serious fight in all their years together, including the eight they spent at Gulf Coast Village.

Besides John, Jr. (Bonnie) and Mary Alice DeSpain (Larry), she leaves behind granddaughters Michelle DeSpain, Jennie DeSpain Donovan (Freddy) and Caroline Belo Barton (Adam); great-grandchildren Chloe and Connor Donovan and Owen Barton; siblings Ida Barilla, Mary Lou Price (Harvey), and Henry (Hank) Cruz; sister-in-law Maria Cruz; and twenty-two nieces and nephews along with their spouses and numerous children. Her siblings Victor, Celina, Tony, Anna and Gloria predecease her. Cousins, second cousins, and cousins once or twice removed are too numerous to mention but she loved them all. A special remembrance must be given to nieces Laura Peterson Perez and Bernadette Cruz Parilla who provided so much love, support, patience and help in Alice’s final years.

Visitation will be from 4 to 6 pm on Monday, March 9th at Coral Ridge Funeral Home, 950 Chiquita Blvd S, Cape Coral. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 am on Tuesday at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 2628 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral with Monsignor Richard Sniezyk. Entombment will follow at Coral Ridge Cemetery, 950 Chiquita Blvd S.