Mário José Barros Almeida

Mário José Barros Almeida of Hamden, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on June 30, 2026. Born in Porto, Portugal, to Maria Rosa Ferreira Barros and Adérito Pinto de Almeida, he lived a life marked by compassion, humility, curiosity, and love.

After graduating from high school in Portugal, Mário came to the United States and first worked as a machinist in the tool-and-die industry. Wanting to care for others, he later attended Gateway Community College and became a Certified Nurse Assistant with phlebotomy certification. For more than twenty years, he cared for private clients and families with extraordinary kindness, patience, dignity, and respect. To many, he was more than a caregiver-he was family. He retired just two weeks before his passing, looking forward to travel, time with loved ones, and the retirement he had earned.

Mário lived with quiet joy and deep appreciation. He loved to travel, discover new cultures and cuisines, he was a voracious reader, a creative cook, enjoyed the performing and visual arts, and sharing good food, wine, and conversation. Music was his deepest passion; his shelves of CDs and albums filled his home like a small music store, and he loved creating playlists that held memories and emotion. Gentle, thoughtful, spiritual, and wonderfully eccentric, he had a warm sense of humor and a rare gift for making others feel welcome and cared for.

Family was the center of Mário’s life, and no distance was ever too great to keep him close to those he loved.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Suzan Shutan Almeida; his sister Felicidade Lima and her husband Mário Lima; nieces Sandra Lima and Tânia Lima; grandnieces Rita and João; sisters-in-law Tela Reimão and Filomena Almeida; nephew Hugo Reimão and his children Olivia and David; niece Liliana Almeida, her husband Raimundo Amorim, and their daughters Lia and Sofia; nephew José Almeida, his wife Inês Clavel, and their son Tiago; and many cherished relatives and friends in Portugal, Germany, Poland and the United States. He was predeceased by his parents and by his brothers José Almeida and Abel Reimão.

Mário’s life was deeply meaningful. His kindness, generosity, and gentle spirit live on in every life he touched, every meal shared with love, every song that brings back a memory, and every act of compassion inspired by his example.

Friends are invited to visit with Mário’s family on Wednesday, July 8th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at Beecher & Bennett Funeral Home, 2300 Whitney Avenue, Hamden. A Celebration of his Life will begin promptly at 2:15 p.m. For those who cannot attend, you may watch the service on Zoom with the following link: A Celebration of the Life of Mário Jóse Barros Almeida.

If joining by phone, please click to find your location's dial-in number: Zoom International Dial-In Numbers. When connected, enter the following information:

Meeting ID: 858 3496 8486

Passcode: 857479

Mário’s burial will be private. Suzan will sit shiva from July 13-17 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at her home (Sitting shiva spiritually represents mourning, reflection, community support, honoring the deceased, and beginning emotional healing after loss with sacred presence).

Contributions in Mario's memory may be made to a charity of one’s choice, or Neighborhood Music School at www.nmsnewhaven.org, or to Monk Youth Jazz & STEAM Collective at www.monkyouthjazz.org.

To send Mário’s family a condolence, please see his obituary at www.beecherandbennett.com.