Virginia Domurad Levesque of Fall River passed peacefully on Sunday, July 8, 2018. She was born the youngest of six daughters to Stanislaw and Antonina (Korwek) Domurad on January 25, 1931.
Virginia was raised in the iconic Polish community of Holy Cross Church, which remained her anchor of faith throughout life. She attended the parish grammar school, Henry Lord Middle School, and graduated from B.M.C. Durfee High School. She worked at Shelburne Shirt, The Curtain Place, Aetna Insurance, and several other positions during her early years. In later life, she was a senior aide for various nonprofit agencies including Health First, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Portuguese Youth Cultural Organization, and Heritage State Park. Her faith guided her as a parent, grandparent, friend, and caregiver.
Along with their mother and father, the Domurad sisters were a strong, yet common example of what family was meant to be from the hard times of the Great Depression and the Second World War, into the easier years of the "Baby Boomer" generation. Celebrations of every holiday, life's milestones, and Tuesday family dinners were filled with good food, warmth and deep affection.
Virginia sang in the parish "Saint Gregory's" choir for many decades, was active in the PTO and other parish organizations, and was a member of the Holy Cross Rosary Society, later serving as that organization's president, for over 20 years. Proud of her heritage, she traveled to Poland many times, reestablishing family connections, experiencing culture, and making pilgrimages to the country's many important religious shrines.
She will be remembered for her sharp wit, her boundless generosity, her love of crafts and party favors, and especially for her dogged insistence on calling out and righting wrongs. We will hold her spontaneous smile and infectious laughter in our hearts forever.
She is survived by her sister Leocadia Berube, her former husband, Andre Levesque, and her children, Susan Dixon (Bill), John Levesque (Traci), Alyce Pires (Greg), and James Levesque. She also leaves behind her grandchildren, Emily Dixon Price, Sara McLaughlin, Elizabeth Brent, and Becky Levesque, 11 great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents and her sisters, Ann Boyer, Sophie Dobyna, Henrietta Domurad, and Irene Domurad.
Calling hours are Thursday, July 12, from 4 to 7 PM, at Boyko Funeral Home, 709 Broadway, Fall River, with recitation of the rosary at 5 PM. Mass of Christian burial is at Holy Cross Chapel, Pulaski Street, Friday, July 13, at 10 AM. Interment to follow at St. Patrick's Cemetery.