Patricia “Pat” (Varney) Costa of Dartmouth passed away Tuesday August 9, 2016 surrounded by family and friends at the New Bedford Jewish Convalescent Home in New Bedford after a long illness.
Pat was born at the Acushnet Hospital in Acushnet and was the daughter of the late Walter Sturgis Varney and Jane Elizabeth Henriksen. She was the wife of James E. Costa of Dartmouth. Until the age of six, she lived in Norwood, MA with her great aunt before moving to New Bedford to be with her family. Pat was a graduate of Holy Family High School and U-Mass Dartmouth. She spent most of her adult life, living and working as an educator in the New Bedford area except for a short stint in Georgia living off military base.
Pat was a devoted grandmother, mother, and teacher. As a teacher she enjoyed nurturing the little ones in grades K-3 and looked forward to starting every new school year with new enthusiasm. She taught close to forty years in both private and public school systems, first in the Catholic School System at St. Kilian’s and Saint Mary’s in New Bedford and later in the New Bedford Public Schools at Carney, Kempton, Lincoln and Pulaski elementary schools. She also taught summers and the English as a Second Language program. After an early retirement, she filled in as a substitute teacher in the New Bedford Public Schools and as a Religious Education instructor at St. Rita’s Church in Marion. Pat was an avid reader and her library contained many books of contemporary authors.
What she loved most was spending time with her grandchildren and family, traveling, and watching her beloved Red Sox baseball team. She took great pride that her great uncle Olaf Henriksen played with the team from 1912 to 1917. Pat was one of the founding members of the New Bedford Area Divorced and Separated Support Group sponsored by the Diocese of Fall River.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughter Michelle M. Pachico and her husband Scott of Marion; two stepchildren, Aaron J. Costa of Fairhaven, and Rebecca A. Costa and her fiancé Adam P. Brightman of Dartmouth; three grandchildren, Meghan Patricia Pachico, Alison Haley Pachico, and William F. Walls; two brothers, Steven King and his wife Joan of Hopkinton and Butch Beauparland and his significant other Roberta Raymond of New Bedford; three sisters, Linda M. Rego and brother-in-law Richard of Fairhaven, Barbara Smith and her husband David of Rhode Island, and Elaine Beauparland of New Bedford; and several nieces and nephews.
The family would like to express a sincere appreciation to the CNA’s, nurses, and therapists of Community Nurse Home Care of Fairhaven and Dartmouth, and also the compassionate, dedicated and skilled staff of the New Bedford Jewish Convalescent Home.
Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 10 AM at Saint Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, North Dartmouth. Interment will be at Saint Mary’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.