Dr. Wanir C. DaCosta
Dr. Wanir C. DaCosta passed away at the age of 93 on March 23, 2023. He died at the LifePath Sun City Center Hospice House due to complications from a fall. He is now reunited with his beloved wife Barbara. Wanir, from Sun City Center, and previously LaCrosse, WI, and Brazil, was an accomplished physician, loving husband and wonderful father. Known to his friends as Van, and in his later years, Doc, he enjoyed an amazing and varied life in many different locations.
Born on May 28, 1929, in the town of Patos in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Wanir was the third youngest of 11 children born to Huascar and Emilia Correa daCosta. When he was young, his parents moved the family to Niteroi, a city across the Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro, where growing up, he enjoyed sports and beach life. He used to tell his small children about jumping onto the backs of stingrays in the bay and “surfing” on them. He loved soccer on the beach and basketball. Van played competitive basketball as a guard and has a number of medals from competitions in the early 1950’s, including a medal from the 1954 FIBA World Basketball Championship. He was also a member of the famed Fluminense Football Club in the late 1940s.
After college and medical school in Brazil, Wanir was the only member of his family to emigrate to the United States. He completed his internship and residency in the US, and met his future wife, Barbara Margaret Moore, when he was working at Wilmington General Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, where Barbara was a secretary in the admitting office. They were married in Wilmington on Aug. 31, 1959. They lived for a short time in New Jersey before moving to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in 1963.
Wanir had a one-year trial contract with Grandview Hospital, when it was still located on Main Street, as an obstetrician/gynecologist. Back then, there were only two OB/GYN’s, so they took turns being on call every other night, while conducting office hours during the day. Before the year was out, Barbara was pregnant with their first child, Lisa Maria. The couple welcomed their son, Eric John, in 1966.
Wanir became a United States citizen in the early 1970s. He practiced medicine with Grandview, Skemp-Grandview and St. Francis Hospitals and delivered thousands of LaCrosse-area babies over his career. In his later years, Van specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of OB/GYN-related cancers and taught seminars at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He traveled extensively for conferences and doctor exchanges, including early visits to the U.S.S.R. and the Peoples Republic of China, shortly after international relations with both countries had warmed with the United States.
Wanir and Barbara stayed in LaCrosse for 25 years, where Van enjoyed duck and pheasant hunting with his neighbors on Milson Court, playing golf at the LaCrosse Country Club during the 1970s and watching golf on television in the 1980s. Van and Barbara traveled often to Hong Kong and Tokyo, Brazil, the Bahamas and Europe.
Rheumatoid arthritis started to get the better of Wanir, and he retired in 1988. He and Barbara moved to Sun City Center, FL, where they built a house on New Bedford Drive and enjoyed golfing together on all the Sun City Center golf courses during the early days of the retirement community. Barbara died in 2000 after a year-long battle with lung cancer. Wanir sold his home in 2011 and moved into Aston Gardens at the Courtyards, an independent living community. He enjoyed the computer club and working out in the exercise room, and he continued to golf until he was 90 years old. Fluent in five languages, Wanir would read newspapers from Brazil, Germany, Spain, France and, of course, across the United States, every day on his computer.
Wanir was preceded in death by his parents, Huascar and Emilia; all of his siblings; and his wife, Barbara. He is survived by his daughter, Lisa Price (Stephen), and son, Eric daCosta. A celebration of life is planned for May in Sun City Center. Wanir supported the Florida Sheriffs Association annually, and if you feel moved to, in lieu of flowers, please donate to this worthy organization in his name.
Sandra Rulli Palladino
Sandra Rulli Palladino was born in Bristol, Connecticut, Dec. 29, 1942, and passed away surrounded by her family on March 18, 2023, in Sun City, FL. She is survived by her husband and partner of 65 years, Alfred Palladino; her son and two daughters; her daughter-in-law; her two granddaughters; and her brother and her sister. She and her husband raised their family in both Bristol and Old Lyme, CT. Her accomplishments are many, and the loss is widely felt.
There will be a Funeral Mass at the Prince of Peace Church in Sun City Center, where she practiced her faith, on April 26 at 10 a.m. There will be a Celebration of Life in her honor to follow in Connecticut with both family and lifelong friends.
LeRoy Otto Prophet
LeRoy Otto Prophet, of Sun City Center, FL, beloved husband, father and grandfather, died Sunday, April 2, of heart disease. He was 82 years old.
Roy was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Susan Prophet, also of Sun City Center. He met her at a church hayride. They were married in July 1961.
Roy and Susan had three children, Scott, Derek, and Michelle (Shawn Wilson) and three grandchildren, Hannah, Dylan and Nicholas, all of Florida. Roy is also survived by two brothers, Wayne Prophet (Colleen) of Madison, WI, and Craig Prophet (Becky) of Alfred, NY, and several nieces and nephews.
LeRoy was born in Waltham, MA, on May 21, 1940.
As a youth, he led his two younger brothers in a USO-style show that toured hospitals and nursing homes, mostly for veterans.
Roy graduated from Waltham High School in 1958 and entered Northeastern University that fall. He worked in journalism while in college; after graduation he started a 38-year career at The Boston Globe, serving over time as a copy editor, writer and headline editor. He was a day editor for the evening edition, and then, for many years, he was editor for the Sunday edition of the Globe.
Roy loved sports of all kinds. From coach of a little league team to inveterate fan of all Boston professional sports, Roy cheered on his teams right up to his last days.
He was a lifelong golf enthusiast and was always an entertaining round if you played with him. He saw the course from many angles.
Roy always loved excellent journalism – both print and broadcast – music, sleek cars, detective fiction and good humor. But most of all he loved and supported his family.
Services will be at the Sun City Center Funeral Home, 1851 Rickenbacker Drive. Visitation will be on April 11 beginning at 4 p.m. On April 12, a short service will be held at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, to be followed by burial at Lake Wimauma Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a preferred charity.
Judith R. Bell
Judith R. Bell, 77, went to be with the Lord on March 27, 2023. She was born Feb. 26, 1946, in Lancaster, PA, the daughter of Merrill S. and Florence L. (Bucks) Ralph.
Judy graduated from Overton High School in Memphis, TN, Class of 1964. Judy married in the fall of 1964 and lived in the Memphis area until 1983 when she moved to the Tampa area. She worked for the University of South Florida until she retired in 2008. Judy loved spending time with her family, cooking, fishing and boating. She was a devoted Christian who enjoyed taking care of others. She loved life and will be missed by many.
Judy is survived by her husband, Gerald N Bell; her brother, Dennis M. Ralph; her three children, Mike Bell, and his wife, Susan; Melinda Bell, and her partner, Jim; Matt Bell, and his wife, Jodie; and her four grandchildren, Matthew Jr., Mallory, Amelia and Abigail.
A memorial will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at the Armstrong Room in the Atrium in Sun City Center. We will welcome friends and family from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., with remembrances at 2:30 p.m., 1009 North Pebble Beach Blvd., Sun City Center, FL 33573. Those wishing to remember Judy in a special way may make gifts in her memory to the Moffitt Cancer Center, USF, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL 33612.