Laura V. (Ferreira) Ekstrom, 52, of New Bedford died December 3, 2003 at St. Luke's Hospital after a brief illness.
She was the wife of Vernon L. Ekstrom and daughter of Dorothy (Lopes) Ferreira of New Bedford and the late Lionel Ferreira.
Mrs. Ekstrom was born in New Bedford and lived in New Bedford all of her life.
She was a communicant of St. Lawrence Church.
Mrs. Ekstrom was employed as the emergency medical technician supervisor with the Acushnet Emergency Medical Services since 1984 and also served as an examiner and chief examiner in Basic Life Support for the State of Massachusetts. She also was a certified teacher of the William Alexander style of painting.
Survivors include her husband; her mother; a sister, Leona Medeiros, and her fiancé Samuel Murphy, of Dartmouth; a brother, Dennis "Bro" Henriques, and his wife Gini, of East Freetown; several nieces and nephews, including Crystal-Lynn Medeiros, Maegan Laura Murphy and Raymond W. Medeiros, II; her adopted grandmother, Katherine Ferreira.
She was the granddaughter of the late John and Laura (Tavares) Lopes.
A private Funeral Mass was celebrated on Saturday morning in St. Lawrence Church. Burial followed in St. John's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Holy Family-Holy Name School, 91 Summer St., New Bedford, MA 02740, for the support of education which Laura was an advocate for.