Roberta May Young

Roberta May Young (Sousa). Born on February 17, 1928 to John J. and Anna M. (Rose) Sousa, Roberta would have been 98 this month. Roberta grew up on North Fair Street in Pawtuxet, RI, part of what was a close knit community. She attended Wyman Elementary School and graduated from Aldrich High School, Warwick, RI.

During the second World War, she and her close neighborhood survived by

growing Victory Gardens. Her brother, Edward Vernon Sousa, a pilot in the United States Navy, died during that time. Roberta is predeceased by Edward and her brother Robert (Buddy) Sousa,and her son Bryan Vernon Young, who died of Reyes Syndrome at the age of eight in 1974.

Surviving children are Ellis E. Young, of Denver, Colorado and Loxley, Alabama, Pamela A. Young of Loxley, Alabama, and Donna M. Perrotta and her husband John, of Providence, RI.; three grandchildren; Jessica A. Cottrell and her husband Robert, David A. Doll, John Zachary Perrotta, and three great grandchildren; Lucas Cottrell, Olivia Cottrell and Quinton Cottrell.

Those who knew Roberta would remember her as a devoted mother, and a strong willed free spirit. Roberta started her own telephone answering service business in the 1970s, and used the proceeds to take flying lessons until she reached her goal - flying solo. She worked as a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker in Warwick, RI.

Roberta was an avid reader and a devoted member of St. Peter's Church in

Gaspee Plateau, Warwick, and most recently, became a Eucheristic minister for St. Timothy's Church in Warwick, RI.

In Naples, Florida, Roberta loved reading books for children in the local school district, volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, and was a member of the Red Hat Club, also in Naples, FL.

Services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the local food pantry or Habitat for Humanity, 322 West Lamar Street, Americus, Georgia 31709-3543.