Georgette P. Macafee

Georgette Anita Pereira Macafee, Professor, Emerita, UMass Dartmouth

Georgette, loving wife of Therese Juliette Michaud, passed away Tuesday, August 25, 2026,  at the age of 86. She was born May 6th, 1940 in Swansea, Massachusetts to Anita Marcotte Pereira and John Pereira. She was also pre-deceased by an older sister, Hilda Pereira, and two older brothers, John and Norman Pereira. 

In 1949 at the age of nine, Georgette contracted the deadly Poliomyelitis, which left her paralyzed in both legs. This shaped the rest of her life. It made her a fighter. She overcame many obstacles during the course of her life. She had an indomitable spirit and gusto for living. She loved life and she never passed up and or opportunity for love or adventure. 

After attending Joseph Case High School in Swansea, Massachusetts, she gained entrance to Rhode Island School of Design, where she earned her BFA in design and illustration. In her senior year at RISD, she fulfilled a lifelong dream to travel Europe by winning a coveted place in RISD's European honors program, a year of study in Rome and Florence, Italy. She returned to RISD 1976 to 1978 to receive her Masters in Teaching and Fine Art. In 1975, at the age of 25, she was hired to teach in the design department at Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute, which later became UMass Dartmouth. She rose in rank over the years and taught a great variety of courses, including pilot courses and print making, fashion, illustration, and color theory. She achieved the rank of Full Professor. She retired in 1993 after 28 years of teaching. 

In 1978, she and the love of her life, Therese, bought a small home on the shore of the Kickemuit River in Bristol, Rhode Island where they spent the next 32 years. She was able to swim, sale and kayak. So great for a polio survivor!  Together, she and Therese became the guardians to four incredible dogs. She and Therese, a teacher and a musician, were blessed by being able to help many people in their community.  They moved to Fall River in 2009 and were officially married July 29th, 2016.  

Arrangements are private.