PORT ST. LUCIE, FL-Judith (Carvalho) Viera, 96, formerly of Dartmouth, died Monday, July 19, 2021 at the home of her daughter, Rosemary Teddar in Port St. Lucie. She was the widow of Joseph (Joe) E. Viera whom she married in 1945 and daughter of the late Joseph and Maria (Borges) Carvalho. Born in Dartmouth, she was a lifelong resident of the town before relocating to Florida in 2019. Judith was ahead of her time and had a career as a legal secretary working for attorneys in New Bedford until her retirement. She was devoted to her catholic faith and was an active parishioner of St. Mary Church in So. Dartmouth where she brought communion to homebound parishioners, taught CCD and served as past president of the Women's Guild. In her later years, she was a Lay Associate for the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation in Dighton, MA. Judith volunteered throughout her life for numerous organizations and causes including PTA, South Coast Hospice, Council on Aging and the Daffodil Project among others and was honored for her volunteerism at the state house in Boston in the 1990's and was nominated as Dartmouth Woman of the Year in 2016. She also served as a Town Meeting Member for several years. Her deepest love beside family and faith was the sea. She was a daily swimmer at Round Hill Beach in Dartmouth for more than half a century and was instrumental in the acquisition of the beach when the Green Estate went up for sale. Her family includes her three children, Linda J. Barbee of Red Lodge, MT, Ralph J. Viera of New Bedford and Rosemary Viera Teddar of Port St. Lucie; 9 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. Visiting hours are omitted. Her Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated in St. Mary Church, So. Dartmouth on Thursday, July 29, 2021 at 9:30 A.M. Interment in South Dartmouth Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Judith's memory to St. Mary Women's Guild or Dominican Sisters of the Presentation. Funeral arrangements entrusted to AUBERTINE-LOPES FUNERAL HOME, 129 Allen St., New Bedford. For online guestbook, please visit www.aubertine-lopes.com. 2016 Dartmouth Woman of the Year DARTMOUTH — For nearly 25 years, widow Judy Viera has been someone other widows and widowers can talk to and trust as they try to cope with the loss of a loved one. She knows the sense of struggle personally, having lost her husband in 1991, around the time the long-running Widowed Persons Support Program at the Council on Aging got started. “It’s been my pleasure to help others going through that loss,” Viera said. “I know what it’s like ... it’s the worst thing that can happen when you’re happily married.” So on the first and third Fridays of each month, the 91-year-old volunteers to sit in on the Dartmouth support group at the senior center as a facilitator, helping to mediate the conversations and lending a friendly ear to people looking for some company, some help, and or just a little support in their healing process. The group averages about 15 or 20 survivors at each meeting, and is grateful to the Dartmouth Council on Aging for use of the meeting space, said Linda Rose, director of the New Bedford YWCA’s support programs. She is personally grateful for Viera’s loyal assistance for so many years, she said. Viera has been a staple of the support group “since I arrived,” Rose said. The volunteer job requires patience, and being a good listener, and Viera has plenty of experience in both departments, she noted. “It’s all widows and widowers... we sit around and talk about things, about problems that have come up, or just how things are going... She’s good at helping me facilitate the group conversation” and keep spirits up, Rose added. A faithful volunteer for decades, it seems that Viera “doesn’t sit still for a minute. She’s slowing down a little, but she keeps going,” Rose said. “She has a lot of friends, and it seems like she’s always on the go.” Viera, who will be 92 in February, was a longtime town meeting member in Dartmouth, and until recently, was also a volunteer delivering communion hosts to shut-in members of St. Mary’s Church in Dartmouth. Many older residents of the town remember her as a member of the town committee that helped Dartmouth negotiate the acquisition of Round Hill Beach a few decades ago. “I’m all surprised and happy,” she said, upon being named The Standard-Times 2016 Dartmouth Woman of the Year. “But, I’m not sure I deserve it.” Family friend Suzanna Trimble certainly thinks Viera deserves the honor. She said Viera’s work helping others transition through the difficult time of losing a spouse is just one of the reasons she nominated her. “This is only one of the many volunteer roles that Judy has been involved in over the years. She is an angel to many in the community” for many years of quiet public service, Trimble said in the letter nominating her mother’s dear friend. “She’s been a friend of my family for 50 years,” and became “kind of a proxy mother” after her own mother died in 1987, Trimble said. “We’ve stayed very close... I still go over and play Scrabble with her.” “At 91, it’s amazing that she still volunteers with the support group. At times, she doesn’t feel that good, but she’s always there for the group,” Trimble added. Up until a few years ago, Viera was a regular visitor to Round Hill, a favorite spot for daily swimming in summer and fall, according to Trimble. “She loves the ocean, she loves the beach” and is proud of her efforts to help make the site a town beach for all to enjoy. Viera’s son Ralph also was also pleased that his mother was named the town’s Woman of the Year. “She’s pretty excited about it,” he said. The support group work and church affairs have helped keep his mother busy and productive for many years, and earned her many friends in the community, Ralph said. “She still stays pretty active” since retiring as a legal secretary “in her 70s and she’s got a lot of friends.” Those old and new friends say they are not surprised by Viera’s modest declaration that she doesn’t deserve the honor. “She always says she doesn’t do much,” Trimble noted. “That’s just the way she is.” Hello reader, our article commenting that you would normally see here is temporarily shut down. We still want to hear from you, so we invite you to go to our Facebook page or submit a letter to the editor.