Irene D'Souza

Eufemia Irene Azavedo D’Souza

Eufemia Irene Azavedo D’Souza, known affectionately as Irene, passed away peacefully on the morning of Thursday, January 15, 2015. A beloved mother, wife, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she was 85 years of age. She resided in Beach Haven, New Jersey, where she lived with her son Alfred D’Souza and his wife Anne. She is also survived by her children, Dr. Anthony D’Souza (Barbara E. D’Souza) of Rockford, IL; Arthur D’Souza (Kohar Balian) of Toronto, Canada; Alan D’Souza (Mary Ann C. D’Souza) of Baton Rouge, LA; Austin D’Souza of Sacramento, CA; and Dr. Anita Andersen (J.B. Craig) of Wichita, KS. Her five grandchildren are Arlene E. Maurice (Aaron Maurice), Anthony Edward D’Souza, Angela B. D’Souza, Anna Maria D’Souza and Lisa Marie Andersen. Over the past several years, she found particular raison d’être and joy in her great-grandchildren, Ellen Elizabeth Maurice and David Howard Maurice. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Anthony C. D’Souza (1975) and their daughter, Arlene Angela (1971).

Mrs. D’Souza emigrated to the United States in 1967, with her husband, the late Dr. Anthony C. D’Souza whose scholarship earned him and his family naturalization through recent legislation which granted visas to foreigners demonstrating extraordinary ability. They settled in Columbia, Missouri, and later, Kirksville, Missouri. In the mid-nineties, she returned to Columbia, and later relocated to Beach Haven, NJ, in 2013. Irene is missed especially by her friends in Jefferson City, Kirksville, and Columbia, MO, and in Beach Haven, NJ, as well as her family in the UK, India, Portugal, Canada, Australia and Malaysia.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church on Friday, January 23, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be in Mary Immaculate Catholic Cemetery in Kirksville.

Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Thursday at the Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer Funeral Home, 2100 E. Shepherd Ave., Kirksville, MO 63501 660-665-2233