Elida Antonia De La Rosa

8/12/1934 - 10/15/2025

New London - Elida Antonia De La Rosa, 91, was born Aug. 12, 1934, in Colon, Republic of Panama, to Doris Rowe and Arnulfo De La Rosa. She passed away Oct. 15, 2025.

She married and arrived to the United States in 1955, and made her home in New London. Elida had eight children and worked as an educator and seamstress for many years. She moved to California in the 1980s and spent fifteen years there until returning to New London.

Elida loved dancing to salsa and meringue music, decorating, and traveling to places old and new. She also enjoyed gardening, collecting antiques, and playing bingo.

Elida is predeceased by her mother, Doris Rowe; her father, Arnulfo De La Rosa; her sister, Anita Rubel; her brothers, Arnulfo M. De La Rosa, Alberto Howe, and Louis Marshall Atherton; and her son, Leonardo Stoute.

To cherish her memory, Elida leaves behind her daughters, Debrah (Calvin) Freeman, Melida Stoute, Sandra (Roderick) Peoples, and Denise Amos; her sons, Randy Stoute, Timothy (Linda) Stoute, and Harvey (Margaret) Stoute; her sister, Bienvenida Magee; and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

Calling Hours will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the Thomas L Neilan and Sons Funeral Home, 12 Ocean Ave., New London. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, at the funeral home, followed by entombment in Saint Mary Cemetery.