lit a candle 1d agoMy mother called to tell me. Said the gift shop in Provincetown was where she bought us saltwater taffy every summer in the seventies. Small thing to remember someone by, but there it is.
Their story
Lorraine A. (Aresta) Cambra, known to her community as a woman of deep Catholic faith, died on October 18, 2026, at the Terraces in Orleans, Massachusetts, at the age of 93. <cite index="2-1">She died with her devoted son by her side and her dear friend, Mary Price.</cite> She had lived…
Lorraine A. (Aresta) Cambra, known to her community as a woman of deep Catholic faith, died on October 18, 2026, at the Terraces in Orleans, Massachusetts, at the age of 93. <cite index="2-1">She died with her devoted son by her side and her dear friend, Mary Price.</cite> She had lived in South Yarmouth and was formerly of Provincetown, the town where she spent much of her adult life.
For many years Lorraine and her husband, Robert Joseph Cambra, were a familiar presence in Provincetown's business community. <cite index="3-1">Bob and Lorraine owned a seasonal gift shop in Provincetown, and in 1964 he began working as a plumber in Yarmouth.</cite> Running a small seasonal shop in a tourist town meant long hours in the warm months and careful planning through the quiet winters, and it placed the couple at the center of Provincetown's commercial life for a generation of visitors and locals alike.
Lorraine's Catholic faith was central to how she was remembered, and news of her death carried a headline describing her plainly as a woman of faith. Her son, Father Daniel Joseph Cambra, became a priest of the Marian Fathers and has served the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a detail that speaks to the religious devotion that ran through the family.
<cite index="1-1">Visiting hours for Lorraine Aresta Cambra of South Yarmouth, formerly of Provincetown, were held from 10 to 11 a.m. on Friday, October 23, at St. Pius X Church in South Yarmouth, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m.</cite> The choice of a funeral Mass, rather than a simpler service, was consistent with the faith that friends and family said defined her.
Lorraine was married to Robert Joseph Cambra for 64 years before his death in January 2018. <cite index="3-2">He left behind Lorraine, his wife of 64 years, and a son, Rev. Daniel Joseph Cambra, who served at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge.</cite> Lorraine outlived her husband by nearly eight years, continuing to live on Cape Cod in her later years. <cite index="1-2">A complete obituary was expected to be published the following week.</cite> As that fuller account becomes public, this page will be updated with further detail about her early life and family.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by The Provincetown Independent.
My family stopped there too, always smelled like cedar and sunscreen.