Candida do Conceicao Freitas

1922 - 2010

Our beloved wife, mother, sister, and grandmother Cándida do Conçeicão de Avelar Freitas passed away on Thursday, September 9, 2010.

She was born to Francisco and Emilia de Avelar on January 29, 1922 in Santa Cruz das Flores, Azores and emigrated to the U.S. in 1951. She first lived in the Fresno area and then, for most of her life, in Kings County. She married Ernest W. Freitas in 1963. In 1966 they opened Ernie's Liquor and retired in 1987 to Nipomo, CA for a short while before returning to Lemoore. Cándida, known to her family and friends as Candy, was an exceptional homemaker and seamstress. Her mastery of exquisite detail for formal dresses and capes for the queens and her attendants for various Portuguese IDES festivals in the Central Valley in the 1950's and 1960's was renowned. Those who were fortunate to have heard them loved her intricate and melodious renditions of classic Azorean festival marches and fados.

She is survived by her husband, Ernie of Lemoore; sister, Emilia Lopez of Fresno; son Roy Rosa of Lemoore, daughter, Maria Wosick of Citrus Heights, son, Joseph Rosa of Sacramento; four grandchildren, Randy, Nicole, Timothy, and Kimberly and one great-granddaughter, Esme. She will be dearly missed.

A viewing will be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 from 4-7 p.m. at Phipps Dale Funeral Chapel in Lemoore. There will be a Recitation of the Rosary before the funeral service on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. Internment will be at Calvary Cemetery in Fresno immediately after the service.

Arrangements are under the direction of Phipps-Dale Funeral Chapel in Lemoore.