Anna Da Costa Souza, 98, formerly of Somerset, Massachusetts, peacefully succumbed to death on Monday,  October 4, 2021 under the care of Hospice and the Cypress Point Nursing facility in Bossier City, Louisiana.

On November 22, 1922, in Vilar das Almas, Portugal, a little girl was born to the late Aurora (d'Oliveira) Da Costa and the late Joao Da Costa.  They named her Anna.  When she was four, the family moved to France, to Mont-Saint-Martin, not far from the border of Belgium.  She finished her years of schooling not long before the outbreak of WWII.  The first half of the war was spent as refugees in the southern part of France. The remainder of the war was spent in Mont-Saint-Martin under German occupation. She would watch the skies outside her window for falling bombs.

The war also brought an American soldier named Antone Souza across the ocean.  He was nearby on R&R, and was trying to communicate in Portuguese.  Anna's curious brother had gone to see the visiting soldiers, and brought Antone to the home of Anna's Portuguese-speaking parents.  And thus began a love story.

They were married in France on August 4, 1945.  She later would cross the ocean to join him in the United States. It was a very difficult journey on the SS Zebulon B. Vance, but she finally arrived in New York early April, 1946.  They would reside in Somerset, Massachusetts.

As a newlywed war-bride, she faced many challenges in her new American home, as she had to learn to speak English, and conform to a new country and way of life.  She applied herself and became a US citizen on November 4, 1948.  Through the years she worked as a seamstress and later a clerk at a fabric store.  But there was another career that she valued far more.

While she was a teenager in France, her girlfriend's father said that there was a book that told you the future, but it was very hard to find.  Anna asked the name of the book.  He said it was the Bible.  Anna commented that if she ever got her hands on that book, she would read it.  When she arrived in the United States, she discovered amazingly that some of her new family members were having a study of the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses.  With the aid of a Bible in the French language, she began to grasp Bible truths.  These molded and guided her through the remainder of her life.  She dedicated her life to the service of Jehovah God and was baptized on April 27, 1957 as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.  Anna loved to talk and she loved people.  She shared her beliefs with many in the Fall River, MA and Warren, RI vicinity, including many in the Portuguese speaking community.

On October 31, 2017, she relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana to live with her youngest daughter and husband.  Though she had to spend the last three months of her life in a nursing home, she quickly endeared herself to the staff and other visitors, sharing her life story and many of her experiences. It was Anna's Bible-based hope that God's original purpose would be fulfilled and that she would be resurrected back to life on a paradise Earth.  She maintained her faith firm to the end.  For more information about Anna's beliefs, please visit JW.ORG.

Anna was preceded in death by her husband, Antone Souza, of Somerset, a grandson, Jay Castro of Swansea, and her youngest sister, Alice Bouvard, of France. Anna is survived by two daughters, Vivian Souza Castro (husband Joseph C.) of Swansea and Michelle Souza Rice (husband Kirk A.) of Shreveport, Louisiana.  Anna also leaves two sisters, Delphine Dufour (husband John) and Alexandrine Mirmont (late husband Charles); two brothers, Louis Da Costa (wife Claudette), and Joseph Da Costa (wife Jacqueline), all of whom reside in France; 2 gandsons, Rodney J. Castro and Andrew A. Rice; a granddaughter, Stephanie D. Rice; a great granddaughter, Aureana R. Castro; many nieces, nephews, grand and great-grand nieces and nephews.

Following calling hours in our Somerset Chapel on the evening of Thursday, October 21st, her private funeral was held the following morning with her committal at Nathan Slade Cemetery in Somerset.

Family members are always grateful for relatives and friends wishing to make in-person expressions of kindness and support. If you were unable to do so, because of this pandemic or any other reason, all are urged to express their sympathy online or by mail. To ensure that said condolences and/or sympathy cards reach the family, please always make sure that submissions online are made directly through the funeral home's website ( www.silvafaria.com ) and not through a third party. Thank you!