Meet Ernest & Lillian L’Abbe, life long New Bedford residents who have been married for 70 years.

Ernest L’Abbe, born in 1927 and Lillian (Souza) born in 1926 were brought into this world in New Bedford during the great depression when the landscape of the city was much different than it was today. Both coming from hardworking families, who stuck together to make things work.

Ernie attended vocational school until he joined the US Coast Guard, leaving school at the age of 17 due to World War II. Lillian attended Holy Family High and went to Campbell’s Secretarial School. After graduating she went to work at the Aerovox Corp. as many others at the time did. During her time at Aerovox, she worked in the Priorities Department but also stayed busy writing a column, singing songs, dancing and performing to entertain soldiers.

After the war ended Ernie also got a job at Aerovox, working as a machine shop supervisor and a tool & die maker. Lillian was now working as a secretary to the Director of Purchasing. He began noticing her walking through the building at work, eventually, they met by chance at the beach at Fort Phoenix and soon after started dating, marrying a year and a half later on February 18, 1950.

Both suffered loss as teenagers, Ernest lost his father Albert and Lillian lost her mother Ana. After marrying the newlywed’s remaining parents came to live with them and soon after their family began to grow. In 1951 their first child Gail was born, followed by their only son Russell in 1952, followed by two more daughters a few years later Nancy and Judith.

They have stayed active in the community through their involvement with their church, Holy Name, participating in the choir, many fundraisers and fun events. Never losing the work ethic of their youth they continued working many years after retirement age. In 2002, Ernest received an honorary high school diploma from Greater New Bedford Vocational during the same graduation ceremony as his grandson, New Bedford Guide’s Josh Souza.

Today, they live independently, still in love, in New Bedford, proud of the family they’ve built with 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren whom they love with all their hearts.

“It’s pretty hard to say how to make it work for so long, but you should never go to bed angry and just love one another.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a New Bedford Guide project being undertaken by Josh Souza. If you’d like to nominate someone or ask a question you can inquire with him through email at josh@newbedfordguide.com.

Faces of New Bedford began as a project by Colton Simmons. You can find Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton.

Meet Jonathan Carvalho, 28-year-old Public Information Officer & Education Policy Advisor for the City of New Bedford.

Jonathan’s family, like many others, arrived in the New Bedford area from Portugal, his family making their way here 100 years ago. He was born and raised in New Bedford and grew up with a passion for history, reading, and writing. He wanted to use that passion in a career but had no interest in becoming an English major so he decided to study Journalism, where he went on to get a bachelor’s degree from Umass.

He took many opportunities that helped him build his career, taking an internship in marketing with KVH Industries, a Development internship with the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Community Development Intern with the City of Holyoke before briefly becoming a Development Coordinator at the Boys & Girls Club of Taunton. While taking every internship opportunity that he could, he was also working as a freelance writer for the Standard-Times before being hired for a staff position.

While working for the Standard-Times his focus was on covering New Bedford City Hall to inform the residents of the city about what was happening with the local government. A new position opened up with the New Bedford Public School system that he took to become the Community & Public Affairs Manager. He was enthusiastic to be apart of the new efforts that were being made to reform and improve the schools, he saw it as an opportunity to be able to tell the stories of the thousands of kids and the hundreds of teachers and staff that work hard every day to provide a great education. After a few years of working with the New Bedford Public School system, he took a new position with the city as the Public Information Officer.

“I’m really happy about how the way things are going in New Bedford and I’m excited to see them continue. I want to stay in New Bedford, it’s home and I think it’s under-appreciated but I really love it here. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a New Bedford Guide project being undertaken by Josh Souza. If you’d like to nominate someone or ask a question you can inquire with him through email at josh@newbedfordguide.com.

Faces of New Bedford began as a project by Colton Simmons. You can find Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton.

Meet Angela Rose-Ferreira, 28-year-old entrepreneur, nail artist/technician, and paraprofessional.

Angela, born and raised in New Bedford graduated from the Nazarene Christian Academy in 2009. Art has always been a passion of hers, whether it be dance or making custom birthday cards she always liked to create. After high school, she chose to learn a craft at the La Baron Hairdressing Academy in New Bedford.

While working on her craft as a nail artist/technician, she worked during the day as a paraprofessional at an elementary school in New Bedford and continues now with the Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative working with young children in the community.

Over the past 11 years working in the beauty industry Angela has put in lots of hard work to perfecting her craft. She’s a Swarovski Certified Nail Artist as well as being LCN Barefoot and Master Gel Certified and has taken courses with companies such as Wildflowers Nail Academy and Profiles Backstage so she can make a name for herself in competitions and give her clients the best quality work possible.

In 2018, after working in various other salons she decided it was time to be her own boss. She opened up her nail business inside of Gloss Salon in Fairhaven. Moving forward her goals are to work at a fashion show in New York and become a nail educator in art technique or a beauty school instructor.

“When I was fresh into the industry, I had a lot to learn and wasn’t as confident as I am now. I’ve furthered my education over the past years taking many different classes, attending nail shows and competed in nail art competitions. I started my own business a year ago and couldn’t be more blessed with my wonderful clients. I am so lucky to be able to do what I love to do best and form great relationships with so many people. I am so thankful that others have an appreciation for my art and passion. ”

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Faces of New Bedford is a New Bedford Guide project being undertaken by Josh Souza. If you’d like to nominate someone or ask a question you can inquire with him through email at josh@newbedfordguide.com.

Faces of New Bedford began as a project by Colton Simmons. You can find Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Noah Griffith, 37-year-old New Bedford Firefighter.

Noah graduated from New Bedford High School in 2001 and went to Northeastern University for his freshman year of college before dropping out for a semester. He continued his education at Umass Dartmouth, only leaving for a semester at the University of Hawaii. He returned to Umass and received a bachelor’s degree in Operations Management intending to open up a bar someday.

Overall, Noah spent 18 years working at various bars in the New Bedford area such as the Century House where he was the youngest bartender ever hired at the time before being hired at the Catwalk. He did leave the city again, ending up back in Hawaii and then North Carolina only to return to New Bedford back behind the bar at the Catwalk. After the Catwalk, he worked for various bars around the area and spent a year with Colonial Beverage before landing at The Pourfarm where he worked for about 8 years.

At some point, Noah did succeed at opening his own bar in New Bedford on Union Street called Pier 37. It started successfully but complications with the partnership and he opted to have his portion of the business bought out. While all this was happening, he had been taking the firefighter tests every day 2 years, but no positions were open for him so he returned to the Pourfarm where he worked until a spot with the New Bedford Fire Department finally opened up for him.

With the support of his wife who he had known since Keith Middle School where he met her in the morning homeroom class and a baby on the way, he became a New Bedford Firefighter where he’s been working for almost 3 years now in what he calls “the world’s greatest job” because of the guys he works with and being apart of the community in New Bedford like his grandfather, father and other family members were.

Noah’s has enjoyed watching New Bedford grow into a fun place over time. He was also one of the original writers for New Bedford Guide, a member of the Whaling City Motorcycle club and has fronted some fun local bands.

“When I reference the city I often refer to it as a black hole, and it’s not a bad thing. It’s a black hole because it keeps bringing you back because my friends are awesome, the people here are awesome, the work, the opportunity that’s here, watching the city grow and kind of being part of that. It’s just fun.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a New Bedford Guide project being undertaken by Josh Souza. If you’d like to nominate someone or ask a question you can inquire with him through email at josh@newbedfordguide.com.

Faces of New Bedford began as a project by Colton Simmons. You can find Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Margo Saulnier, 46-year-old New Bedford’s Cultural Coordinator for the city’s arts and culture community.

Margo, originally from Acushnet graduated from New Bedford High School and went on to obtain a degree in music from Boston University and a master of fine arts degree from Brooklyn College. She went on to spend over a decade with the Boston Symphony Orchestra where she was involved in the artistic planning for the Boston Pops. With her experience, she went to become a part-time lecturer in the music department at Northeastern University alongside being a project consultant for the Celebrity Series of Boston.

In 2017 New Bedford began searching for a new position, a Cultural Coordinator for the city and Margo saw it as an opportunity to return to the area she grew up in. After being selected for the position she moved back to New Bedford with her husband Scott and her two adopted daughters.

In her first year on the job, she worked hard and put together New Bedford’s first-ever strategic arts and culture plan where the vision for the city is to be vibrant with the wide variety of arts and culture that can be found here. Following the plan, the New Bedford Creative website launched featuring a directory of the artistic members of the New Bedford community, easy access to tools, events and grant information.

Moving forward her plans are to continue implementing the arts and culture plan that was created. Spreading art into the communities that may not think art is for them or for those who don’t have access to it through new programs and public art displays.

“I’m pretty picky with my taste with everything, but moving back here was like falling in love all over again. The amount of talent from the people who live here is incredible, it’s like Boston and New York City.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a New Bedford Guide project being undertaken by Josh Souza. If you’d like to nominate someone or ask a question you can inquire with him through email at josh@newbedfordguide.com.

Faces of New Bedford began as a project by Colton Simmons. You can find Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Meet Peter Pereira, 50-year-old award-winning photojournalist. Peter was 8 when he moved to the United States from Figueira da Foz, Portugal in 1978. He went on to graduate from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in 1992 with a degree in computer engineering and even started his own computer company before giving it up in 1998 to focus on his true passion. Photography.

Since then, his images have graced the pages of Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, Vogue (Australia), New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, The Observer(UK), Le Monde, Boston Globe, Courrier International, International Herald Tribune, Harvard Magazine, News Photographer Magazine, Outdoor Magazine, Shutterbug Magazine, MSNBC.com, CNN.com, ABCNews.com, FoxNews.com, CNN Anderson Cooper 360, and various other international media outlets. His work has won him many awards including photographer of the Year for multiple organizations and in 2016, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Infante D. Henrique by the President of Portugal, Anibal Cavaco Silva.

His abilities have brought him all over the world but New Bedford is where he chose to work, live and raise his children with his wife. Peter continues to find new ways to show off the city he loves and always talks passionately about.

“It’s funny no matter where I am, I ‘m always thinking I can’t wait to get back.”

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Faces of New Bedford is a New Bedford Guide project being undertaken by Josh Souza. If you’d like to nominate someone or ask a question you can inquire with him through email at josh@newbedfordguide.com. Faces of New Bedford began as a project by Colton Simmons. You can find Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Eden Gonet, 19-year-old model and student. She never pictured herself getting into modeling growing up. She was always camera shy but would always be encouraged by friends growing up to pursue it when she got to the right age.

After graduating from high school, she networked with some local photographers, shooting and building her portfolio. After some time of doing that she knew that she needed to get involved with an agency in order to grow in the business.

All while balancing a full-time school schedule and two part-time jobs, she began submitting her portfolio to a few agencies and was picked up by a Rhode Island-based agency, Divine Souls Management. Since she has worked with numerous photographers across New England, been featured in brand advertising and has even had her photos shared in Vogue Italia. She is also currently ranked 4th in a national competition to be Maxim’s cover girl.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Valerie Supczak, 28-year-old Hair Artist. As a child, Valerie was always interested in hair and even went to New Bedford Voc-Tech to pursue cosmetology. When she got to Voc, she had a change of mind as she fell in love with computers. She became a student in the Information Technology program and it seemed as though her future in hair was over.

During her senior year, she was nominated to enter the Women in Technology program and even awarded a scholarship to pursue a degree in technology. Upon graduation though, she knew that she couldn’t see a happy future for herself if she didn’t return to her love for hair. She walked away from her scholarship and enrolled in Rob Roy’s Hair Academy.

Valerie would work at a small salon for several years after finishing school, where she felt like she couldn’t really express herself as an artist. When she moved to Plaza 100, she was inspired by the artists around her and she stepped out of her comfort zone to try new styles and coloring. When vivids, a hair-coloring technique that mixes bright and unique colors together for a different approach to styling, really started to gain popularity in the hair and fashion world, Valerie knew
she had master it.

With lots of work and dedication, Valerie was able to grow her brand as an artist through her Instagram account. What started as a hobby of posting the work of her clients, grew into a community of over 11,000 hairstylists and artists, who stop in to check out her newest work. This has opened up opportunities for her to work with some of her favorite brands and hopes to continue to be able to create and share her work with everyone.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Justine Medina, 39-year-old elementary school principal at Carlos Pacheco Elementary School. Justine grew up in New Bedford’s west end, attending Carney Academy. It was there that she fell in love with learning and used that passion to continue on to graduate from New Bedford High School and attend school in New York.

After college, Justine would become a social worker and after a few years in the field, knew she wanted to make an impact on the youth in other ways. This would lead her to a teaching program in the Bronx, where she worked in unstaffable schools, amongst the highest levels of poverty in the country, and with very little resources. It was this environment that was able to teach her how to not only make learning exciting for them but provide her students with stability, which they weren’t used to.

Justine would eventually move back to New Bedford to take care of her father and in doing so, land herself a teaching position at the school that started it all, Carney Academy. She would teach at Carney over the next few years, receiving her admin license in 2012, and then being asked to take the position as assistant principal in 2014. She worked as the assistant principal until 2016, when she was offered the role of principal at Carlos Pacheco Elementary School.

Justine credits the major success the school has had over the last few years since she has arrived to the amazing staff she has around her. They have worked to raise the attendance rate in the school significantly and was able to have the school ranked in the top 2% of schools, being 1 of 38 schools in MA to ace I’ve 96% of their achievement targets in MCAS assessments.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Peter Walker, 34-year-old Co-Chair at Third-Eye and owner of IAMSTILLILL. Peter grew up in the housing projects of Roxbury. It was a rough environment and although Peter had always done well in school, it still wasn’t enough to keep him away from the street life. Peter also an affinity for music, which would help him travel the country after he graduated from high school, meeting and working with artists like KRS-One.

While working on his music career, he also was trying to balance a normal life, working as the director of security for several Boston Universities and still returning to his neighborhood and being involved in all of the wrong activities. This all came to a head when he was arrested and facing serious charges, when he knew he needed to take a new direction in life and that he needed a reset.

After visiting New Bedford for an open mic event, he knew this was where he could get that second opportunity at life, falling in love with the open arms and amazing community he was welcomed into. He met his wife, quickly began getting involved and volunteering with the youth and trying to encourage them to not make the same mistakes he had. This would help him to eventually get involved with 3rd-Eye, where he works to provide a handful of programs for the youth and paid gigs for young musicians at local community events. He also runs a clothing and lifestyle brand, IAMSTILLILL, which was recently featured in a recent Beyonce documentary. Peter hopes to continue not only transforming his life, but the lives of the youth he gets the opportunity to enrich.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.