January 29, 1934 - June 11, 2022

Mary Joan DaSilva passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 11, 2022. She was 88. Mary Joan was born on Jan. 29, 1934, in Richland County, Wisconsin, to Frank and Mary Alice Cosgrove. She was the second child for the couple, who also had a son, Virgil. They grew up on a farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse. After graduating from high school, Mary Joan enrolled in St. Mary’s College in Madison, Wisconsin, where she earned a nursing degree and soon became a registered nurse. After a couple of years, Mary Joan decided to move to California. She headed west with a friend and located in Downey, where she would reside for the remainder of her life. In 1958, she met Henry DaSilva at a young adults group at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. A year later, they married at OLPH, where they remained parishioners. With the birth of their first daughter, Mary Joan left her job as a registered nurse to become a homemaker. The couple went on to have three more daughters. Over the next several years, Hank worked as an accountant at Hughes Aircraft Company, while Mary Joan spent her days taking care of her daughters, volunteering at their schools and with their scout troops, baking, sewing, playing games and carting them around in the family’s paneled Ford station wagon. After Hank passed away unexpectedly in 1985, Mary Joan went back to work as a special education assistant in the Downey Unified School District. She also became the rock for her family. She was always supportive of her daughters, no matter what, and helped them to complete college and follow their dreams. Mary Joan loved to travel and explore new places, especially Europe. She also enjoyed reading, quilting, going to plays with her friends and spending time with family, including her fur-babies and grand-fur babies. She was kind, patient and a great listener, with a competitive streak that could come out when playing cards, especially with her brother. Nothing delighted her more than setting her brother in euchre. Mary Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Henry, and her parents. She is survived by her four daughters: Ann (Michael) Amy of Downey, Karen daSilva of Yucaipa, Mary Jane (John) Herr of Alamo, and Lisa (Michael) Lock of Yorba Linda; eight grandchildren, Samantha, Travis, Trevor, Jacob, Matthew, Maggie, Brandon and Hanna; and her brother Virgil Cosgrove of Richland Center, Wisconsin. She will be missed dearly by all who knew her. A funeral Mass and service will take place in Downey.