Obituary: Nulita "Lee" (Maciel) Tavares, 63

Nulita "Lee" (Maciel) Tavares, 63, of Veterans Memorial Parkway, East Providence, ended a courageous 10 month battle with cancer on July 8th. She was the wife of former RI General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares.

They were married for 42 years. Born in Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores, she moved to the United States when she was 22 months old.

Lee was the daughter of the late Liberio Maciel and the late Mary (Ferreira) Berard. She was the mother of Tessa (Isaac) Costa of Florida, Kristin Tavares (Reid Willett) of East Greenwich, Felicia Tavares residing at home, Andrew Tavares of Providence and the late Nicholas Tavares. She also leaves her two cherished grandchildren Maia Grace Costa and Samuel Joseph Costa. She was the sister of Marie Lourenco of Florida and the late Joseph Maciel. Dedicated to children and family, Lee was the recipient of the Congressional nominated "Angel in Adoption Award."

Her funeral will begin Wednesday, July 13, at 8:30am from the Rebello Funeral Home and Crematory, 901 Broadway, East Providence with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10am in Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Traverse Street, Providence. Burial will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Visiting hours will be Tuesday, from 4pm until 8pm.In lieu of flowers donations in her memory to the RI Community Food Bank, 200 Niantic Avenue, Providence, RI 02907 or projectlinus.org would be greatly appreciated.