Mildred J. (Almeida) Eriksen, 82, of Marshfield passed away on Tuesday June 26, 2012 at home surrounded by her family.
Born in Boston, the daughter of the late Candido and Olivia (Fortes) Almeida, she lived in the West End of Boston for many years. She later lived in Los Angeles for 17 years before moving to Marshfield three years ago.
Mrs. Eriksen was crowned Miss Massachusetts in 1951 and was well-known as a fashion model and entertainer.
Active in beauty pageants in her younger days, she was May Queen of 1945, Miss Cape Cod of 1947, and Miss Cape Verde of 1949 and 1950. She was also a finalist in Miss Standard-Times of 1950.
She was a 1947 graduate of Girls High School in Boston.
Survivors include two children, Joy Eriksen Crowley and her husband William, and Karl A. Eriksen and his wife Katherine, all of Marshfield; a brother, James J. Almeida of Weymouth; a sister, Flory Gonsalves of Jamaica Plain; four grandchildren, Anna and William Crowley and Olivia and Bethany Eriksen; and many nieces and nephews.
She was the mother of the late Glen P. Eriksen and Ralph H. Eriksen, Jr., and the sister of the late John Almeida, Armando Almeida, Sylvia Alves, and Maria Rogers.
Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 9 AM at Our Lady of the Assumption Church. Burial will follow in St. John's Cemetery. Visiting hours will be on Friday from 4-8 PM at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.