Robert Vincent Souza

Robert V. Souza Jr., 59, of Middletown, passed away on December 6, 2018 peacefully at home.

Born in Newport, he is the son of Robert V. Souza Sr. of Carolina, RI and the late Rita (Ferry) Souza.

Besides his father, Robert leaves his son Eli Ariel Kuzminsky of North Kingston and his brother Mick Souza and his wife Carla of Middletown.

As a child Robert attended Aquidneck School, then the Gaudet Middle School and later graduated in 1977 from Middletown High School, where he also was on the National Honor Society every year. During his early days Robert enjoyed skateboarding, basketball, playing tennis and spending time at Second Beach with his Mother, brother, cousins and friends. He loved lifting weights with his little brother Mick. They were very competitive with each other. So much so that the boys competition with each other turned into Robert pushing his little brother and guiding him along the way to a successful career in bodybuilding. Robert would accompany Mick every time he stepped on stage eventually winning the Mr. America and Mr. Universe Competition. They earned the titles together. He was a Master of TaiChi and enjoyed teaching Tai Chi at many local gyms. Robert loved sharing his Tai Chi knowledge with everyone no matter where he was, he would teach a class on the beach, at a park or on the front lawn.

One of Roberts favorites jobs was working for the world renowned Interior Decorator Richard Nelson of The Red Unicorn. He worked in many of the famous Newport Mansions and would often travel to New York City to there too. Robert was very meticulous with any work that he did and Richard loved that characteristic about him.

In 2007 Roberts son Eli was born. He loved doing anything with him from going to the Newport Creamery, bowling, going to the Arcade in Newport or just watching a movie. He just wanted to spend time Eli it did not matter what they did.

The last 2 years Robert spent much of his time at St. Barnabas Catholic Church rediscovering his faith in Jesus Christ. He attended Mass twice weekly along with weekly Bible Study. He recently attended a Parish Mission and Retreat. He really loved getting back to his Catholic roots.But what Robert cherished most of all was spending time with is his beloved son Eli.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday, December 13, 2018 at 10:00AM in St. Barnabas Church, 1697 East Main Road, Portsmouth. Burial will follow at St. Columba Cemetery, Middletown.