Richard Paul Furtado Was Boat Line Purser

Richard Paul Furtado of Deland, Fla.,, formerly of Vineyard Haven, died Saturday, August 7, at Deland Hospital in Deland, Fla. He was 82.

Richard was the son of William P. Furtado and Mary Tiernan, born in New Bedford on April 29, 1922 and the brother of Margie Mallory, Dorothy Suffern, Sylvester, Joseph and Charles Furtado.

Raised in New Bedford, he worked for the Steamship Authority, known then as the New England Steamship Company; he started working in 1939 on the Steamship Nobska for many years and retired as purser in 1986 after 47 years of service.

He moved to Martha's Vineyard when he married Elizabeth J. King, who predeceased him in 1999, living on Beach street in Vineyard Haven, and in 2001 he moved to Deland, Fla.

He was a parishioner of St. Augustine's Church in Vineyard Haven.

When he was younger, he worked for the Civil Conservation Corps, a program initiated by President Roosevelt to clear and reforest land in New Hampshire. Richard partnered a fishing charter service back in the 1950s and was a member of the Holy Ghost Society and Knights of Columbus.

He is survived by two sons, Richard P. Furtado, formerly of Westborough, most recently of Nashua, N.H., and Thomas Furtado of Falmouth; a daughter, Barbara Ann Baldwin of Deland, Fla.; his brother, Sylvester Furtado of Williamsport, Md.; his grandchildren, Andrew Furtado, Aaron Baldwin, Rhonda Baldwin and Sonja Blazetic, several great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.

His funeral mass was celebrated in St. Augustine's Church, Vineyard Haven at 11 a.m. on Thursday, August 12. Interment followed in the Oak Grove Cemetery, State Road, Vineyard Haven. Contributions may be made in his memory to the Visiting Nurse Association, P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. Visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com for guest book and information.