“Friends are the family you choose.”

― Jess C. Scott, The Other Side of Life

ACUSHNET – It is with much sadness that we share that our beloved mother, aunt, memere, and great friend Adrienne ‘Dee’ Oliveira left this world to join her late husband Eugene Oliveira, whom he called his Vitamin Dee, on March 15th2020. She was 94 years old. She was born in New Bedford and spent most of her life in Fairhaven and Acushnet.

She ran a day care center from her home, and later worked for Sears.

Dee and Gene were talented ballroom dancers, frequenting the local dance clubs in their heyday as many as six nights per week. Dee was a prolific artist whose oil paintings grace our homes, and whose work has been shown in many local exhibits. She never met a craft she couldn’t master, from cake decorating to wood carving to glass etching, and she painted eggs for every occasion. She was an avid gardener, loved all flowers, and nurtured what may someday be a red maple forest at her last home in Acushnet. Since they were all started from tiny saplings she truly espoused Nelson Henderson’s philosophy of generosity: “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Upon facing death she remarked that she wanted to take care of all of the babies in heaven.

Dee leaves behind myriad sorrowful friends, 23 nieces, nephews and their families, and her caregivers, niece Anita Poitras and her husband Mike Poitras, nieces Simone Carvalho, Germaine Vigers, and Deborah Bullock, and nephew Dennis Pepin. 

She is survived by her family, daughters Bonnie Paiva (Joe) and Jane Monteiro (Manny) of Marion, Dawne Kastein (Eric) of Canada, beloved grandchildren Brian Paiva and his wife Kimberly, Marcus Monteiro, who promised at a very young age to play ‘Misty’ on his saxophone at her funeral, and his wife Debbie, Vanessa King and her husband Darren, Alexander Monteiro and his wife Meaghan, great grandchildren Xavier Monteiro, and Niall and Kenji King.  Dee was predeceased by her much loved but very noisy dog Sweet Pea. Dee’s friends were countless, and she made new ones until she died.

She was the youngest and last remaining sibling of the late Edward Pepin, Henriette Girard, Omer Pepin, Albert Pepin, Alice Morissette, Norman Pepin, and Therese Langlois. She was the daughter of the late Aime Pepin and Blanche (Doucette) Pepin. 

Dee’s family would like to thank the nursing staff at Alden Court and Beacon Hospice for their loving care.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, www.stjude.org, to which Dee contributed generously, even receiving a personal call from Marlo Thomas. Or plant a tree or flowers in your yard in her memory.

Funeral Mass will be Saturday, September 11th 2021 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Acushnet at 10 AM, with burial immediately after and a celebration of her life following at the Century House in Acushnet.