Manuela Palma
July 26, 1949 – Nova Lisboa (now known as Huambo), Angola
November 18, 2020 – Ottawa, Canada
Died peacefully, with family and friends by her side, in her 72nd year.
Born Maria Manuela dos Santos Palma, the first of three girls born to Manuel da Palma (d. 1979) and Gracinda dos Santos Varinhos (d. 2001), in Angola. The family moved several times as Manuel worked for the Caminhos de Ferro de Benguela and Gracinda tended to life at home while working as a hairdresser. She gained her two sisters during those years, first Florinda and later Laura (d. 2015). After completing her secondary schooling in Angola, she travelled to Lisbon, Portugal, and later London, England, to continue her studies. It was in London she met and later married Gustavo Ponte Rodrigues-the couple’s 48th wedding anniversary was November 9. She returned to Angola in 1972, followed by Gustavo several months later, where she lived and worked as a teacher in Lobito. In 1975, the couple welcomed daughter Débora Palma Rodrigues into the family, amidst the outbreak of civil war. She moved to Portugal in September 1975 and lived with her in-laws in Figueira da Foz, working as an occasional teacher while the couple decided where it wanted to raise its family. They arrived in Canada in October 1976, and in 1977 they welcomed son Hugo Alexandre Palma Rodrigues to the family. During her 44 years in Ottawa, she worked for the Multilingual Biblio Service at Library and Archives Canada in the late 1970s, later working at home with her children. She returned to office work in the late 1980s, first within the client services centre, and later in the Income Security Programs branch within the department now known as Employment and Social Development Canada-where she worked until going on leave in 2001 and retiring in 2009. She was an advocate for the teaching of the Portuguese language within Ottawa-Gatineau, becoming involved in teaching at a heritage-language school in the late 1970s. She would be among the founders of the Escola de Língua e Cultura Portuguesas Luís de Camões in 1981, serving as its principal for decades. In that role and as a teacher, she shepherded thousands of young Luso-Canadians in learning Portuguese and about their history and culture, before stepping back in the 2000s. She loved to knit and crochet, creating many articles of clothing for her family and others. Gardening was another passion, the home always filled with plants, and her backyard an ever-evolving landscape as she tended to it season after season.
Predeceased by her parents and youngest sister Laura, she is survived by her sister Florinda (Dimas), husband, son, daughter, grandchildren Ansel Rodrigues Gander and Thorne Eliot Rodrigues Gander, three nephews, five great-nephews, and one great-niece. The family extends its gratitude to the team within the leukemia program at The Ottawa Hospital, the excellent palliative care team of Dr. Jennifer Brodeur and her associates, and the amazing staff members at Hospice Care Ottawa’s May Court site.
Cremation has already taken place. Donations in memory of Manuela would be welcomed, to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation (leukemia program), and/or Hospice Care Ottawa.
July 26, 1949 – Nova Lisboa (now known as Huambo), Angola
November 18, 2020 – Ottawa, Canada
Died peacefully, with family and friends by her side, in her 72nd year.
Born Maria Manuela dos Santos Palma, the first of three girls born to Manuel da Palma (d. 1979) and Gracinda dos Santos Varinhos (d. 2001), in Angola. The family moved several times as Manuel worked for the Caminhos de Ferro de Benguela and Gracinda tended to life at home while working as a hairdresser. She gained her two sisters during those years, first Florinda and later Laura (d. 2015). After completing her secondary schooling in Angola, she travelled to Lisbon, Portugal, and later London, England, to continue her studies. It was in London she met and later married Gustavo Ponte Rodrigues-the couple’s 48th wedding anniversary was November 9. She returned to Angola in 1972, followed by Gustavo several months later, where she lived and worked as a teacher in Lobito. In 1975, the couple welcomed daughter Débora Palma Rodrigues into the family, amidst the outbreak of civil war. She moved to Portugal in September 1975 and lived with her in-laws in Figueira da Foz, working as an occasional teacher while the couple decided where it wanted to raise its family. They arrived in Canada in October 1976, and in 1977 they welcomed son Hugo Alexandre Palma Rodrigues to the family. During her 44 years in Ottawa, she worked for the Multilingual Biblio Service at Library and Archives Canada in the late 1970s, later working at home with her children. She returned to office work in the late 1980s, first within the client services centre, and later in the Income Security Programs branch within the department now known as Employment and Social Development Canada-where she worked until going on leave in 2001 and retiring in 2009. She was an advocate for the teaching of the Portuguese language within Ottawa-Gatineau, becoming involved in teaching at a heritage-language school in the late 1970s. She would be among the founders of the Escola de Língua e Cultura Portuguesas Luís de Camões in 1981, serving as its principal for decades. In that role and as a teacher, she shepherded thousands of young Luso-Canadians in learning Portuguese and about their history and culture, before stepping back in the 2000s. She loved to knit and crochet, creating many articles of clothing for her family and others. Gardening was another passion, the home always filled with plants, and her backyard an ever-evolving landscape as she tended to it season after season.
Predeceased by her parents and youngest sister Laura, she is survived by her sister Florinda (Dimas), husband, son, daughter, grandchildren Ansel Rodrigues Gander and Thorne Eliot Rodrigues Gander, three nephews, five great-nephews, and one great-niece. The family extends its gratitude to the team within the leukemia program at The Ottawa Hospital, the excellent palliative care team of Dr. Jennifer Brodeur and her associates, and the amazing staff members at Hospice Care Ottawa’s May Court site.
Cremation has already taken place. Donations in memory of Manuela would be welcomed, to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation (leukemia program), and/or Hospice Care Ottawa.