Neighbor News
Obituary - Gail A. (West) Fernandes
A Memorial Visitation will be held on Saturday, March 15 from 2-4 PM. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend.
Gail A. (West) Fernandes, age 65, of Stoneham, formerly of Winchester, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on March 3, 2025. She was the life partner of Larry Casey of Stoneham and the devoted mother of Christopher Fernandes and his girlfriend Nathalie Roberts of Tewksbury, Kianna S. Fernandes of Arlington and the late Ashanti Fernandes.
Born in Winchester, Gail was the daughter of the late Ellsworth Courtney West, Sr. and Helen (Ward) West. She was raised and educated in Winchester and was a graduate of Winchester High School.
Gail worked as a special education bus driver for many years for North Reading Transportation. She was one of twelve children in the well-known West family in Winchester. As a member of such a large and active family, Gail was known for her natural sociability and friendliness. In her
spare time, she enjoyed spending time socializing with family and friends and often kept in touch with longtime Winchester friends on Facebook. Her family remembers how funny she was and how often that amazing sense of humor kept everyone entertained. She often thoughtfully shared her special kindnesses and generosity with everyone whose path she crossed, whether she
knew them or not.
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In addition to Larry and her children Kianna and Chris, Gail, who was affectionately known by
many in the family as “Meirma”, is lovingly survived by her granddaughters Keira Blake and Jasmine Wells. She also leaves behind her siblings: Wayne, Joyce, Bruce, Daryl, Terri, Lois and Aaron West and is further survived by many nieces and nephews. Four siblings, Marsha, Lance, Craig and Ellsworth Courtney West, Jr. predeceased her.
A Memorial Visitation will be held at the Costello Funeral Home, 177 Washington St., Winchester, on Saturday, March 15, from 2-4PM. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, donations in Gail’s memory may be made to the En Ka Society of Winchester (please specify for the General Fund/En Ka Food Pantry) at P.O. Box 993, Winchester, MA 01890 or at www.enkasociety.org.
