Lydia Beverly (Sousa) Securo

Lydia Beverly (Sousa) Securo, 94, of Franklin Street passed away from natural causes on May 8, 2020 at Newport Hospital.   Born in Bristol, she was the daughter of the late Francisco and Adelina (Pimentel) Sousa.  She was the wife of the late Vincent Michael Securo, the love of her life.

Family was everything to Lydia.  She was a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother.  She is survived by her children Michael “Mick” Securo and his partner MaryJean Sylvaria of Bristol, Jane Howe and her husband George of Sandwich, MA; grandchildren Lauren Mongillo and her husband Christian of Somerset, MA, Sara Stiefvater and her husband Matthew of Fairfax, VA, Lindsay Johnson and her husband Jeffrey of West Warwick, Andrew Howe and his wife Hilary of Brooklyn, NY, Evan Securo of Naples, FL; and great grandchildren Leah Mongillo and Cora and Otto Stiefvater.  She was the loving sister of the late Mary Reposa.

Lydia graduated from Colt Memorial High School in 1944 and a few years later married her high school sweetheart and classmate Vincent Securo.  They built their own home in Bristol where they had 55 wonderful years together raising a family and doting over their grandchildren.  Lydia worked as a secretary at Callan Construction and Herreshoff Manufacturing before becoming a bilingual teacher’s aide for the Bristol School Department.  She was instrumental in helping many Portuguese immigrant children successfully assimilate into the Bristol School System until she retired after 20 years.  Lydia was proud to be a lifelong Bristolian.  In her later years, she could often be seen around Bristol with her beloved dog Katie.

Lydia was an avid gardener who took pride and enjoyed working in her many flower gardens.  She said she was most proud of her “Family Garden” where the flowers were all the members of her family.  She was always busy with projects and was known for painting furniture, knitting afghans and sweaters, and hand sewing beautiful Christmas decorations.  Best of all, she was a great cook who loved to bake and prepare family dinners.  She was famous for her Christmas cookies, specialty desserts and making sure no one left the table hungry, especially at Christmas and on the “Fourth”.

In her spirit of feeding others, donations in Lydia’s memory may be made to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, 200 Niantic Avenue, Providence, RI 02907 or online at rifoodbank.org.

Her funeral services will be private.

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