It is with deep sorrow that the João Luiz Pozzobon Association informs of the passing of Vilma Joanna Pozzobon, daughter of the Venerable Deacon João Luiz Pozzobon.
Vilma Joanna Pozzobon passed away at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at the age of 84. She was one of the seven children of the Venerable Deacon João Luiz Pozzobon and lived in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The cause of death was an infection resulting from a fracture of the humerus. The family reports that, at the time of her death, she was praying the Rosary before an image of the Pilgrim Mother; at her side were her brother Humberto, her niece Raquel, and a family friend, Edione Dornelles.
Vilma was unmarried and lived with her father, the Venerable João Pozzobon, and her sister Eli until his death in 1985. After that, she moved to a house near her siblings and the Schoenstatt Shrine in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. She worked for many years in the archives of the Astrogildo de Azevedo Charity Hospital.
Missionary of the Pilgrim Mother
Always active in her father’s apostolic initiatives, Vilma was a missionary for the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate and helped to welcome pilgrims who came to learn about João Pozzobon, the places where he lived, and his family.
“She was always very generous in welcoming pilgrims into the house, together with her father, and later, in her own home, she would receive the devotees with great warmth and chat with them,” recalls Fr. Vitor Hugo Possetti, vice-postulator of the Cause for the Beatification of João Luiz Pozzobon.
Last week, she had taken a fall at home, which resulted in a fracture of the humerus—the bone near the shoulder—and she was awaiting surgery. As a result, she developed a widespread infection, which was the cause of her death. She was admitted to the Emergency Care Unit (UPA) at Casa de Saúde Hospital in Santa Maria.
Her family is still planning for the funeral, and details will be announced in due course.
See also: Educating with love: Lessons from João Pozzobon on raising children
