Maria Melania (Madeira) Piqueira

Maria Melania (Madeira) Piqueira, beloved wife of Daniel Domingues Piqueira for seventy-one years, entered eternal rest on November 20th after a courageous battle with cancer. An only child, she was born on the island of San Miguel which is part of the Portuguese Azores. She moved to the U.S. with her parents at the age of twelve. She eventually graduated from the Drake Business School in New York City and took on a variety of administrative assistant positions. Her last career position before retiring and moving to Florida in 1988 was secretary to the Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Levittown, New York. She met her husband Daniel at a Portuguese American Social Club in New York City and was married shortly before her eighteenth birthday. Maria leaves behind a son Philipe Miguel and his wife Susan, a daughter Lana Paula MacCormack and her husband Stephen, a son Daniel Domingues and his wife Jennifer, and a son Alexander Peter and his wife Ellen as well as grandchildren Jennifer, Christopher, Anna, Michael, Ian, Vanessa, David, Joey, Colin, Kyle, and Matthew. She also had sixteen great-grandchildren.

Maria loved art and created many water color and pastel drawings. She was Artist of the Month at her Wellington community in June of 2013 and many of her paintings adorn the walls of her children and friends’ homes. She was a very reserved yet kind person and would often be approached by others for her wise advice and counsel. She and her husband Daniel loved living in Florida, faithfully walking outside for several miles each day for years as well as going on sixty-nine cruises with friends in their community in Spring Hill. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 23rd, at St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church at 1:30 p.m. with burial following at Florida Hills Memorial Garden in Spring Hill. Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 22nd, at Turner Funeral Home, Spring Hill, Florida.