Ricardo Vieira De Carvalho

Ricardo Vieira De Carvalho
1956-2020

Ricardo Vieira De Carvalho
1956-2020

Ricardo Vieira de Carvalho was born on Nov. 21, 1956, in São Paulo, Brazil. He said that his earliest memories were of spending time on his grandfather’s farm or with close family friends chasing down the dairy delivery man’s horse from its pasture and riding it all weekend. His family came to Alexandria, Virginia with his parents and sisters in March, 1964. Ricardo said he learned English by watching TV and hanging out with the neighborhood kids before he started school that fall.

He met Mary (Mimi) Reosti in the summer of 1975 in Alexandria. They married in June, 1983. Despite Ricardo insisting that his Brazilian charm won her over, Mimi says it was actually his intelligence and interesting personality that sparked their relationship. They were married for 36 years.

In between the births of their daughters Jessica and Adele, Ricardo joined the military, serving in the Army Reserves for nearly 30 years. Although he held various other civilian jobs, it was being a Combat Medic and CLS Instructor that defined him. His penchant for learning led him to study herbal remedies and natural healing. If you knew him, then he probably told you, “Take some cayenne!” and “Water, water, water!” if you mentioned that you weren’t feeling well.

He and Mimi moved with the girls to rural Humphreys County, Tennessee, in 1993 to get away from the city and “be able to own horses.” They wanted their girls to grow up with an appreciation for nature, and Ricardo often used their farm as a living classroom for home-school lessons. His love of U.S. history and government, biology, mythology, and health made him an excellent tutor for those subjects (while Mimi handled all the rest). He also made sure his daughters were trained in every skill a good Boy Scout would know.

He was a loving father who bestowed his mischievous sense of humor on his girls. From adding blue food coloring to homemade pizza dough while Mimi was at work, to doing bunny ears and making ridiculous faces in all the family photos, to silly puns and attempts at grossing them out, he made sure that their senses of humor were well-rounded. On the outside he appeared to be the tough sergeant, but he did not shy away from doing girly things like braiding their hair, painting their fingernails, encouraging dress up, or playing Barbies with them.

Just as much, he wholly supported his wife’s passions of music and art and her decision to go back to college to pursue her master’s degree in teaching.

Ricardo was constantly studying and learning about whatever he was interested in and had a keen memory for facts and statistics. But when he wasn’t imparting all this knowledge to his wife and daughters (and anyone else who’d listen to his political rants on Facebook), he was somewhere on his property, bush-hogging fields, digging fence-post holes, cutting wood, taking care of the horses and chickens, or simply walking the dogs and enjoying the creek that runs through the property.

Ricardo died in his sleep at his home in Waverly, Tennessee, on Feb. 2, 2020, after a brief battle with cancer. He will be greatly missed and is survived by his wife, Mimi Carvalho; daughters, Jessica Carvalho and Adele Carvalho and her husband, Matthew Wheat; his mother, Elisa Vieira; father, Joao DeCarvalho and his father’s wife, Carmen DeCarvalho; his three sisters, Barbara Borecky and her husband Charlie Borecky, Beatriz Szabo and her husband Sandor Szabo, and Debbie Carvalho and her spouse Monika Mayer; his brother Joshua Carvalho and his wife Kristen Carvalho; four grandchildren, Jaden, Silas, Violet and Solomon; as well as many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held for Ricardo later in the springtime.

Tennessee Cremation Care is honored to be entrusted with Ricardo's cremation services. Please visit his tribute wall to leave an online condolence for the family.