Amelia da Fonseca Veiga Branco

January 8, 1928 - February 7, 2017

On February 7th, 2017, after a long and courageous journey with metastatic lung cancer, Amelia da Fonseca Veiga Branco, 89, passed while in the loving arms of her daughter and Querida Filha do Ceu, Kathleen. Emily as she preferred to be called, was living with her daughter in the beautiful mountains Western North Carolina in the city known as Asheville. Emily was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey where she lived for most of her life, before moving to New York and most recently Asheville, NC. The most important element of Emily's life was family. She was blessed to have two loving parents Maria Candida da Fonseca and Jose Augusto Veiga, both of whom immigrated from Portugal. Emily was also blessed to have had as she referred to her "The Best Mother-in-Law in the World and second Mother," our beloved Augusta Gomes dos Santos Branco who lived with Emily until her passing in Emily's arms. As the last living member of her immediate family, Emily was pre-deceased by her parents mentioned above and brothers Antonio and Pedro. Emily received abundant blessings in her life and was able to share many, many happy years and memories with her dear sisters before they passed--they are as follows: Maria Augusta Fonseca (Augusta), Maria dos Anjos Marques (Mary), Anna Maria Louro (Anna) and most recently Rosaria Lourenco (Rose). Emily is survived by her son Anthony Branco and his wife Kathryn; daughter Kathleen Lizzul and her husband Michael; granddaughter Andrea Branco and her wife Kasey; grandson David Branco; and Andrea and David's mom, Beverly Spencer Branco. Emily, known as Tia Amelia to them, is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews who she loved and adored: Karen and her children Edmund, Keki, Lynn and Paul; Gerry and Victor and their children Jennifer and Victor; Eugenia and Robbie and their children Michael and Michelle; Rufina and her children, Shana, Bernadette, Mena, Nuno, and Michael; Carlos and Celia and their daughters Christina and Sara; MaryAnn and Joe and their children Erica and Joey; Angel and Peter and their children, Stephanie, Kevin and Danny; Rose and her children Christopher, Anthony and Heather; Joe and his children Claudia and Eric; Theresa and John their children Justin and Taylor; and her niece Aida's children, Camane, Joao, Ze Carlos, Teresa and Nanny. Emily is also survived by some very special people who she also loved; Kathy Zdonowski, and all of Emily's friends at Mary's Manor in Inwood, New York, they are as follows: Dru, Eileen, Maria and Millicent and others. Besides spending time with her sisters and her loving family, Emily's joys were viewing the mountains here in WNC, driving and long road trips, traveling, cooking, playing Canasta, going to the casino, home repair and decorating, going to the theater, Judy Garland music, Beja our standard poodle and you guessed it--watching "Dancing with the Stars" and "Game of Thrones." By her example, Emily inspired many of the women in the family to be self-sufficient and independent. Emily began working from the time she was young in her family's grocery store. As an adult, Emily worked at RCA for 25 years and later took on a second career of working in and owning restaurants. Emily's greatest accomplishments were in being creative in the kitchen and in owning restaurants: the last restaurant being "Mama Mia's." Emily was industrious and always willing to give a hand especially when it came to cooking or fixing something that was broken. While she wasn't big on words and never repeated gossip or your entrusted secrets, she was spirited in her political opinions and the right way of doing things. Upon receiving her diagnosis, she never wavered in her faith and optimism believing that she had lived an abundant and lucky life surrounded by family, friends and love. Emily was at peace and ready to make the journey home to her Lord and Savior. She said, "the only tragedy in life is when children are stricken with illness and asked that in lieu of the flowers that she could not smell after her passing, that you please donate to the St. Jude Children's Fund in her name." Service Location: Morris Funeral Home Address: 304 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801 Date: Sunday, February 12, 2017 Viewing: 12:00 p.m. Service: 1:00 p.m. Officiants: Chaplain Kelly Belcher and Deacon Phillip Miles In lieu of flowers please make a donation to, "St. Jude Children's Fund in Honor of Amelia Branco." The main website is not easy to navigate, so please do a Google search for these exact words, "giftfunds.stjude.org" After the Google search, click on the first result. When redirected to the St. Jude Gift Funds website, just below the log in button on the top right, look for the "Search Funds" button. Click on the button and search for the fund by typing in "Amelia Branco."