Armando Ferreira

Waterford - Each Morning I, Armando "Arman", "Dad", "Papa" Ferreira, would read the Obituary section in the newspaper. I would joke that I must be alive as I am not reading my own obituary. But today I am. I have lived a cat's life; nine lives, escaping this day until today, May 21st, 2018. I passed peacefully at Yale New Haven Hospital after I was unable to come back from pneumonia and other illnesses. Surrounded by my family as they look on me in my final hours, it is now my turn to watch over them from Heaven. I also was blessed to have great care from the staff at Yale and Greentree Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation.

I was born on April 18,1940, in Providence, R.I., the son of Armando Portos Ferreira and Mary Ormonde Ferreira of Seekonk, Mass. I am survived by my sister Olga Alfonso, now of Plymouth, Mass; and my extended family on both mine and my wife's side.

As a teenager, cars were my passion. My first job was as an auto mechanic at a garage in Barrington, R.I., where, across the street at the local drug store serving an ice-cream float, I met and later married my future wife Luisa, who now after 53 years of marriage, lives in the home we built our lives together in Waterford.

I enlisted in the US Navy in 1961. I was a qualified Submariner, honorably serving aboard the USS Angler (AGss240). After discharging from the Navy, I worked in the Ship Test Organization at Electric Boat until my retirement in 1995, after 30 years of employment.

When I was 33, I was in a terrible accident when I was hit by a truck, but fortunately my life was saved by a young doctor fresh out of the Navy. My right leg was amputated, but the handicap never defined me. Dependent on me at this time was my young wife with my oldest son Michael, then six, my daughter Maria, then three, and my youngest son Mark, just one year old.

I enjoyed most of my free time working and landscaping my home side by side with my wife. Neighbors would be amused as I would play on my yellow tractor with the bucket as we would dig up the yard and redo it again and again. I truly enjoyed my home and sharing it with my family. It was my passion. Life is always full of good times and bad and my life was no different. I had battled cardiac disease over my lifetime, escaping the obituary a number of times on the operating table.

I had incredible friendships. I cannot share enough how much you have meant to me. Lifelong friends Bob and Diane Dumont, and Jerry and Cathy Kaufman, who I consider family and who have been so generous and helpful to me and my family.

Finally, I wish to thank dearest Scott, the young man who passed away at 16, and who's heart was donated to save my life yet again. My life now extended another 17 years. I have witnessed my sons' and daughter's days filled by their life partners Sean, Sheila, and Megan. I have watched my grandchildren Ryan, Paige, Conner, Ethan and Tarance grow up. Not a day has gone by that I have not passed by Scott's photo hanging on our refrigerator and thanked him for my extended life.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Fitzgerald Avenue, at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 24. In lieu of flowers, donations in my memory can be made to the American Heart Association. A private burial service will be held at the family plot in East Providence, R.I. where I will be laid to rest with my parents.

The Thomas L. Neilan & Sons Funeral Home, 12 Ocean Avenue, New London is assisting the family with the arrangements.