Obituary of Rosaura A West

Rosaura Almeida West succumbed to cancer on July 5, 2023, at home in Reston, Virginia.  She was born in Lima, Peru on January 9^th, 1947, to Emma and Oscar Almeida.  She was married to Terry West, who passed away in 1995. She is survived by her son, Nikolai West, her fiancée Ross Underwood, and her brothers and sisters María, Oscar, Silvana, and Victor and a large number of relatives who loved her deeply.

From her humble roots coming from Lima, Peru leaving at a young age to the United States.  She first lived in New York City, where she had to learn a lot of things; then moved to Oregon, where she had to continue learning to further adapt without really having other Spanish speakers around her.  She later established in Reston, Virginia, where she worked for the Reston Health Department, North County Clinic, then for Fairfax County Public Schools spending most of her time at Lake Anne Elementary in the Head Start program until her retirement.

As her son Nik remarks:

She will be dearly missed.  She was a wonderful woman, always happy and giving to others.

She enjoyed cooking whether making my lunches, which I would take to work and make others envious, or some other treats like zucchini bread, flan, or empanadas because she enjoyed making them for others.  That was the type of person she was.  She was always into eating healthy and loved shopping at Trader Joe’s. 

I will miss watching together the TV shows that she enjoyed such as The Big Bang Theory, Family Feud and classic films such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation or Grown Ups.

She enjoyed going for walks, dancing Salsa and Zumba, and working in the yard, since she liked flowers and gardening in general.  She would also volunteer for different activities or festivals in the community.

She also liked taking care of her cat, Tuki, which she would refer to as her baby. 

Despite her illness, she remained positive as she had always been before she was sick.  She always had a sense of humor and would tell me to smile more.  Even when she was sick, she would still like to joke around.  I will miss telling her funny stories of people and things that would happen at my job. 

My Mom enjoyed travelling with Ross or with me.  I always wanted my Mom to have special experiences when traveling together.  Sometimes I would surprise her, and it made me happy to see her smile and enjoy the experience.  Such as when I surprised her to see The Beatles Love show in Las Vegas.  She has traveled to a lot of different places and experienced different cultures. She enjoyed seafood and a glass of good wine or a dark beer with a delicious meal.

Despite loving her travels, she always liked being at home cooking, spending time outside or with family and friends.   

My Mom was a long-time member of St. Thomas à Becket Church. She would walk or drive there either with friends or by herself.  She lived by faith always strengthening her spirituality.

I would like to think that she is happily dancing up above knowing that she will be warmly remembered by so many people.