Lucia Catherine Soares

September 15, 1921 - October 15, 2022

“Thankful and Blessed” was the sign that adorned Lucia’s door. This phrase best describes her approach to life. Always a positive influence, Lucia was an inspiration to her entire family. Lucia was the families’ guiding light. Rather than anchoring on problems, she always sought solutions.

Lucia’s determination to always do her best was founded in her deeply spiritual roots. It was in God that she found solace. She truly lived her faith. Perhaps her faith grew from the fact that she lost both her parents to illness while she was quite young. Perhaps from this loss, grew the determined, independent person who we all admired and respected.

Lucia was born in Bishop’s Town a part of Mumbai in Colonial India in 1921. She was the second oldest of five sisters. A keen student, Lucia got a teaching certificate and started her teaching career.

In 1945, Lucia married R. Francis Soares. Shortly after they were married, Francis left for the U.S. completing an Electrical Engineering Degree. Francis joined the United Nations as a communications engineer in 1950. He was assigned to conflict countries where his task was to set up communications lines for the incoming peacekeepers.

Never a “shrinking violet”, Lucia did not take a back seat to her husband’s ambitions but instead complemented his character. She was determined to stand beside her husband and joined him wherever he was assigned with their son Robert. For more than a decade Lucia and her young family found themselves living in countries that were suffering from conflict.

In 1964, Francis and Lucia decided to set root in England with their three children, Robert, Frances and Patrick. Lucia returned to teaching, a vocation that she enjoyed. Seeking to offer their children greater opportunities, Francis and Lucia moved to Canada in 1971 and built a home in Langley, B.C.

Lucia continued her teaching career at Belmont Elementary, where over the next 18 years, she made many friends and taught hundreds of students.

Faith does not live in the absence of Charity. Giving back to the community was a big part of Lucia’s life. After her retirement, she and Francis volunteered their services teaching English in both Hungary and Slovakia after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Francis passed away in 1996 at which point Lucia moved to Tsawwassen (Delta) to join her children Frances and Patrick who were living there. She continued her charitable ways volunteering at the Kinsmen Centre until 2020, reading to and massaging the hands seniors who were often younger than her.

Lucia lived independently until 2020 when she moved to assisted living at Augustine House. In 2022, as she found it more difficult to complete tasks on her own, she moved to Westshore Laylum. Her final days were spent participating in singing, playing cards and Scrabble.

Our family wishes to acknowledge the caregivers at Westshore Laylum who treated Lucia like a family member. No words can sufficiently express how grateful we are.Lucia’s extended family, who can be found on all continents, will miss her. It is we who were truly Blessed by her wisdom and for that we are Thankful.

A prayer service will be held at Sacred Heart Parish Chapel in Delta on Friday October 28th, 2022, at 10:30 am followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 am.