John Arnold de Sousa Sr., an Air Force veteran, retired plumbing contractor from Montauk, and former member of the East Hampton Republican Committee, died on Dec. 2. He was 85.
Mr. de Sousa began his plumbing career in 1970 serving residences and businesses in the Montauk area until his retirement in 1999, when his son John Jr. took over.
As the proprietor of John A. de Sousa and Sons Plumbing and Heating, Mr. de Sousa was always willing to help homeowners solve their problems and often took the time to talk to a customer through fixing a minor household repair over the telephone. He remained involved in the business until his death and over the years made numerous friends from among his customers.
He was born on Nov. 19, 1934, in Cambridge, Mass., the second of six children — three boys followed by three girls — born to Joseph F. de Sousa and Mary Josephine Camacho.
Both of his parents had emigrated as teenagers from Funchal, on Madeira, a Portuguese island possession 45 miles west of Casablanca. Mr. de Sousa grew up in Somerville, Mass., and East Boston and was educated in the Catholic school system of greater Boston.
At 19 in 1953, Mr. de Sousa enlisted in the regular Air Force and served 14 years of active duty. He was assigned to bases throughout the United States with two overseas tours in Libya, Turkey, and Germany. At the end of his service career, Mr. de Sousa volunteered for duty in Southeast Asia but was reassigned to the Eighth Air Force’s 19th Bombardment Wing, an airborne missile maintenance squadron, at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, where he was honorably discharged with rank of staff sergeant.
Mr. de Sousa had met his former wife, Jeanette Kaiser of Montauk, while stationed at the Montauk Air Force Station from 1956 through 1958. They married in 1959 and moved to Pforzheim, Germany, with the Air Force.
After Mr. de Sousa’s release from the Air Force in late 1967, the couple returned to Montauk and raised three children, Jane de Sousa, John de Sousa Jr., and Charles de Sousa, all of Montauk.
He was an active, lifelong member of the Fifteenth Air Force Association, the 92nd Bombardments Wing Association, the Strategic Air Command Cruise Missile Association, and the American Legion in Amagansett and enjoyed meeting friends at reunions throughout the U.S.
While in the Air Force, Mr. de Sousa received recognition for numerous accomplishments and was most proud of the Air Force Commendation Medal given to him by the Fifteenth Air Force while serving with the 92nd Bomb Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State.
Mr. de Sousa served on the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee and was involved in two Montauk village incorporation attempts. Although a Montauk resident for almost 50 years, Mr. de Sousa was a Bostonian at heart, and his New England accent remained noticeable.
Mr. de Sousa’s extended family was important to him throughout his life. Three sisters survive him: Emily Julien of Maryland, Beatrice Zampetella of Boston, and Lucy Runyon of Boston as well as a brother, Joseph de Sousa, and 11 nieces and nephews. His long-term companion in Montauk, Susan Burke, died before him, as did a brother, Anthony de Sousa.
Mr. de Sousa’s greatest joy was that all three of his children lived in Montauk along with his eight grandchildren, Stephen and Robert Daige, Abby, Cheyne, Julia, and Jake de Sousa, and Charlotte and Ryan de Sousa, and three great-grandchildren, Charles III, Caitlyn, and Mason Weimar.
Mr. de Sousa was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk on Saturday.
