While on her way home from her favorite restaurant, Elenita’s on West Wood Street in Willows, Marsha Dian Carvalho of Willows was tragically hit by a truck late Friday afternoon, Dec. 2, 2022. She died after being transported by a medical helicopter to Saint Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff.
She was born in Oakland to John and Dorothy Carvalho on May 13, 1941. Shortly after her birth, she moved with her parents to Willows, where she grew up and graduated from Willows High School.
Shortly after graduation, she married and moved to Sacramento, where she raised four children and then went back to school to earn her Psychiatric Technician License by her 50th birthday. She went on to work in her field at a number of facilities until she reluctantly retired at the age of 67, prompting her to move back to her hometown.
She loved to take daily walks around Willows both with and without Francine – her little Chihuahua dog. She spent her days crafting while enjoying her favorite TV shows: “90 Day Fiancé” and the Kardashians. She could often be heard commenting on the choices the TV personalities made.
She was always brutally honest, never one to be anything but direct.
Elenita’s was her home away from home. They treated her like the queen she was, and became an adoptive grandma to Tyson Lowe, who was very protective of her and always walked her home from the restaurant.
She touched so many lives with her wit and easy conversation. The loss has left a devastating void in the lives of those who had the good fortune to be in her life.
She is survived by her daughters Kim Orsi and Quincie Pratt; son John Forbes; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren whom she had yet to meet; sisters Cindy Purinton and Debbie Weist; brother Jay Carvalho; and numerous other relatives and good friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Dorothy Carvalho; and her son, Kevin Winter.
A viewing is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16, at the F.D. Sweet and Son Funeral Home, 114 North Shasta Street, Willows.
The Glenn County Observer 