JUNE 4, 1932 – MARCH 30, 2024
On Saturday, March 30, 2024, Balbina de Abreu died at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Although she died peacefully, her death was due to a broken heart, literally and figuratively: the physical strains of congestive heart failure and the emotional wounds she sustained following the death of her first-born child, Joe, who had died of cancer just six weeks prior. Left to grieve Balbina’s death are her four remaining children, Darlene, Ted, Theresa, and Susy, as well as her daughters-in-law, Grace and Joy, and son-in-law, Scott. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Balbina was born on May 29, 1932, in Rosario, a small village in the island of Madeira, daughter of Maria Rosa de Jesus and José António de Abreu, sister of Maria, Agostinha, Celeste, Manuel, José, Fernando, Conceição, Gabriel, and Isabel, and aunt to twenty-six nieces and nephews spread across four continents. Balbina was especially close to her oldest niece, Marie-Thérèse in France, who called her on a regular basis and with whom she reminisced about their shared histories on the island, including dipping their toes in the ocean water, eating espetada, and listening to the bailinho da Madeira.
Balbina married Henrique Ferreira on February 21, 1955, in the parish church of São Vicente, Madeira. She emigrated to Canada in 1969, first settling in Toronto and then moving to Cambridge in 1973. Although she was proud to become a Canadian citizen, Balbina never forgot her cultural heritage and agricultural roots. She loved to work with her hands and was at her happiest in the garden or sewing and knitting by the window with sunshine pouring through. Over the years, Balbina worked in several factories, but her most treasured job was in an industrial hospital laundry in Toronto, because laundry was one of her favourite household chores. Indeed, she had very fond memories of helping her mother do the family washing in the ribeira right behind their home nas fontes, near the village church.
Balbina had a great sense of humour, but there were three things that she took very seriously: religion, vida, and juízo. She relished keeping busy and had little time for leisure in her early years, but once she retired, she enjoyed going to the YMCA for aqua fitness and exercises in the gym, and spending time learning English at the David Durward Centre where she socialized with friends. Balbina also enjoyed playing cards with her family, especially casino with her beloved menina, and the guessing game.
Although her English-speaking abilities were limited, Balbina never shied from making conversation with neighbours and friendly folk she encountered on the bus, taking pleasure in connecting with people through her favourite expressions such as ‘very funny’, ‘good boy’, ‘good gairl’, and ‘dokey-dokey.’ She could be seen walking all over town to do errands and to look for bargains in thrift stores, humming a little tune from the old country along the way. One of Balbina’s greatest regrets toward the end of her life was her limited mobility, because walking for her was as natural as breathing. She received excellent medical care from the Waterloo Region Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic in Cambridge (big thanks to Sarah Cleland, in particular), and from many other doctors and health staff in the Cambridge and Kitchener area. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
Boa viagem, mãe.
Funeral services will be held in Cambridge on Friday, April 5, with a church service at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Fatima and interment at Mountview Cemetery, followed by a reception with light refreshments at T. Little Funeral Home.
Arrangements entrusted to T. Little Funeral Home & Cremation Centre
