Obituary_Octavia David

Octavia David

Octavia (Peters) David, 95, loving wife of 41 years to the late Thomas David of New Bedford, died with family by her side on 11/24/25 at Alden Court Nursing Care and Rehabilitation Center after a long period of declining health.

She graduated from New Bedford High School in 1949, and then from Kinyon-Campbell Business School. She used those skills to work at Arlan’s, Aerovox, and then to run Cyclone Cleaning with her husband for many years. 

Whether it was teaching her grandchildren to climb trees, cooking stuffed grape leaves (hundreds) for the neighborhood kids, or just saying “yes” to the nieces and nephews who wanted to use the pool, Octavia lived her life with vibrancy, exuberance, and love.

When she moved to the home she lovingly named “Misty Acres,” she was able to embrace her love of animals, having dogs, cats, horses, chickens and a host of strays (and not only the four-legged kind) under her care.

She had an uncanny knack with people, a well-known family trait, which she used mercilessly to charm angry people, such as airport officials who were tasked with chasing the David horses off the runway and then chastising the owners. Inevitably, they would end up laughing and joking over (spiked?) coffee at her legendary kitchen table.

Octavia did not recognize Christmas as a “season.” She played Christmas music all year long, especially in July. But Christmas truly was in a competition with Halloween for her favorite holiday, convincing many of her nieces and nephews that she was literally a true witch. 

And Christmas music was not the only mood-setting device in her famously welcoming kitchen. There was a crackling fire, the smell of coffee brewing, and the soothing words of all the famous crooners wafting through the air, as she twirled around dancing to the tunes of her day. 

And summertime at Misty Acres created its own mystique with family parties for the ages, fireworks at the Fourth of July, clamboils, barbecues, and fresh vegeta­bles from the garden. Those fabulous memory-making events inevitably ended with nothing more precious than settling in under the shade of the grape arbor (aka areesheee) with coffee, arak, cigars and stories that often could be true. 

In her later years, she enjoyed her seaside escape in Fairhaven, aka “The Cottage,” a place nearly as magical as Misty Acres, but blessed with ocean breezes and cooling tides.

With a 95-year legacy of love, laughter, charity, and faith in God, she will be remembered for her generosity, graciousness, and vibrancy. Everything in moderation, she would say, while gently pushing her young confidants to explore, learn, live, but always remember to come back home.

She leaves behind her children, Elizabeth David of Fairhaven, Catherine Thomas and her husband Matthew of New Bedford, Anthony David and his wife Marcelle of Dartmouth, and Marie David and her husband George Borges of Rochester; grandchildren, Victoria, Samuel, and David Thomas, and Thomas David; her sisters, Mary Ann Chomak of Dartmouth, and Norma Thomas of Fairhaven; and many nieces and nephews. 

She was the daughter of the late George and Kaffa (Dumat) Peters of New Bedford. She was predeceased by her daughter, Christine David of Fairhaven; and her sisters, Rose Peters, RSM (aka Sr. Mary Assunta) of Cumberland, RI; Cecelia Attallah of Fairhaven, Freda Thomas, Ann Abraham, Emily Alves, Mary Barckett, Theresa Coury, and Louise Dupre, all of New Bedford. 

The family would like to thank Alden Court and the many staff members who provided compassionate care to Octavia.

A funeral mass and interment were held on 12/1/25. Arrangements were by Fairhaven Funeral Home, 117 Main Street, Fairhaven.

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