Clara Seal Lopez D'aquilla

Clara Seal Lopez Campbell D'aquilla, known to many as "Claire," passed away at noon on January 9, 2014. She was 77. Ms. D'aquilla was born November 13, 1936, in Biloxi, MS. She grew up in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and attended boarding school at the Sacred Heart Academy in New Orleans. As a child and teenager, she spent weekends and summers in Biloxi with her extended family. She graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1962 with a BA in history and English and later earned an MA in history there. She was the first graduate of USM to earn a 4.0 average. In 1971 she earned a PhD in history from Tulane. Her profession was teaching. When she was still "Ms. Campbell," she spent most of the seventies as an English and history teacher at Sacred Heart Girls' School in Biloxi, where she was much-loved and highly-regarded. She likewise held great affection for her students. She supervised the school yearbook, and her students voted her star teacher. Ms. D'aquilla often remembered her years there as her happiest, professionally. After Sacred Heart, she moved on to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where she was a professor of English and history until retiring in 1996. Though she was an accomplished professional woman, she was also a devoted wife and mother. Ms. D'aquilla held membership in several professional organizations; Kappa Delta Sorority; and Les Masquees Carnival Association. A lifelong Catholic, she belonged to St. Alphonsus Parish in Ocean Springs, and then later Nativity, BVM, in Biloxi. Ms. D'aquilla is preceded in death by her parents, John Beverly Lopez and Juanita Abbey Eckles Lopez; by one daughter, Claire Patricia Campbell; and by one sister, Beverly Juanita Lopez. Survivors include her husband, Sylvester "Sal" D'aquilla, Jr., of Biloxi; sister, Helen Lopez Languirand of Biloxi; brother, John (Beth) Lopez of Gretna, LA; daughters, Carroll Campbell and Abbey D'aquilla of Biloxi; daughters, Rose (Mohammed) Pouriragi and Holly Murray of Long Beach and Daphne (Timothy) Stewart of Slidell, LA; grandchildren, Kay (David) Orgeron, Lyda and Maddy Murray and Dylan, Tyler, and Kyle Stewart; and nephews, Shawn Lopez and Jack Lopez, both of Gretna. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Humane Society of South Mississippi, 2615 25th Ave., Gulfport, MS 39501 and to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, 870 Howard Ave., Biloxi, MS 39530. A rosary will be said for Ms. D'aquilla on Tuesday, January 14th, 2014 at 10:00 a.m., directly followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m., at Nativity, BVM Cathedral in Biloxi. The Howard Avenue Chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.