Lauren Maria Basco Souza

Lauren Maria Basco Souza, 16, passed away on Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Bedford, NH. The middle of three daughters of Maria Basco and Kevin Souza, Lauren shared an especially close bond with her sisters—Madeleine, 14 months older, and Adrienne, 16 months younger. Born on June 18, 2008, at Yale New Haven Hospital, she spent her early childhood in Randolph, New Jersey, before moving with her family to New Hampshire in 2012. Lauren was educated in the regional Catholic schools and was a junior at Trinity High School in Manchester.

From the very beginning, Lauren displayed a witty sense of humor, a love for music, and passion for sports. She was a loyal, generous, and loving friend to all, whose smile and energy lit up a room, bringing joy and laughter to everyone she met.

Lauren was a bright, conscientious, and diligent student, recognized with multiple academic awards, including the Ed Houle Memorial Academic Athlete Award, the St. Joseph Regional Junior High Outstanding Student Award, and the Bishop Libasci Outstanding Student Scholarship in 2022. Lauren maintained her ranking of 1st in her class at Trinity High School for three consecutive years and was recently elected Vice President of the National Honor Society. She was a member of the National English Honor Society, DECA, Chorus, and Book Club. Lauren served as a Student Ambassador throughout high school and an Orientation Leader in her junior year. Lauren was also a member of the 40A Robotics Team, finishing 8th place at the 2025 NH/VT State Tournament. Lauren was known for her generosity in sharing her knowledge and skills, always wanting to help fellow students succeed.

Practicing, playing, and being part of a team was what Lauren loved most. While she enjoyed a win, she was motivated by just playing the game. She grew up playing basketball and lacrosse, but as a high school freshman, Lauren discovered her true joy: volleyball. She loved playing volleyball for Trinity throughout her time there, and she cherished the friendships she had with her teammates. For the past 2 years, she was also a member of the Dig Deep Volleyball Club, wearing the #3 jersey and playing in the position of libero. She absolutely adored traveling to tournaments, not just to play, but also to spend time with her peppering partner, night swimming, eating, or simply chatting between games. Lauren was an avid participant in pinning. She enjoyed decorating clothes pins and pinning them on others as much as she did receiving them from strangers. These little acts of kindness were exactly what she loved.

When not playing sports or studying (or making tiktoks, by herself or with friends), Lauren was well known by all for her love of food and baking—especially sweets. Frequent late-night study sessions were often fueled by cakes and cookies (as her sisters would discover in the morning when none were left behind). All who knew Lauren were familiar with her love for guacamole, particularly her own recipe (not too much lime). Editing and adjusting recipes for her favorite foods was her forte; her marks can be found all over Grampy Jim’s recipe cards—especially the brownie one. She never made brownies the “proper” way. Lauren had very strong opinions about food; though delivered with conviction, using her unique sense of humor, they were impossible to disagree with, and she always gave a good laugh. No one, not even her teasing sisters, could slander her love for pineapple-topped pizza dipped into thick ranch dressing. She enjoyed making açai smoothies and would happily multiply the servings for anyone that asked (even if it meant quadrupling her recipe and using up a week’s worth of ingredients and asking “padre” to buy more). She brought smiles to others with delicious mini cakes or desserts. She was especially proud to present her father with a homemade rum cake for his birthday or her mother with a non-chocolate dessert for hers.

Friends, family, and teammates remember Lauren as a constant source of happiness—always smiling, quick with a compliment, a source of encouragement, and often spoke kindly of everyone. She loved to laugh, she loved good hugs and utterly loved children. She was the best babysitter and companion to her little cousin Mia. She seemingly adopted little kids everywhere she went. More than once, a family gathering gained a few people as a child or 2 attached themselves to Lauren and her playful nature. She had a smile and a million stories that made everyone want to listen.

Lauren cherished family visits and vacations. She loved traveling to California to see her Lolo, Lola, Uncle Michael and Uncle Marvin. While there, she and her sisters looked forward to adventures with their “brothers”—Drake Christian, Kaden, and Noah Sosnowski. She also treasured summers on Nantucket, where she went paddleboarding, surfed with her sisters, and regularly defeated her aunts and uncles at board and card games. She was the reigning champion of Rubik’s Race. Suffice it to say, it was not easy to out strategize Lauren, who was indefatigable and endlessly plotting for the win.

Lauren was gorgeous, inside and out. She had the brightest, glowing-est hazel eyes, the longest lashes, cutest freckles, and the biggest, most infectious smile. Even bigger was her heart. Lauren often celebrated friends and acquaintances with small gifts even if there was no occasion. She was known to give you the shirt off her back and then ask what else you needed. Her sisters’ friends as well as her own could be assumed to be wearing half of her wardrobe at any given moment. She took care to style not only her own hair, but the hair of everyone around her—sports teammates called her their “team braider,” friends gathered with her before school dances to get curls, and her sisters fully employed her at any chance they got. Only her (all male) robotics team never had their hair prettied by her.

Lauren’s enthusiasm, energy, and generosity were seemingly endless.

Our sweet Lauren is survived by her parents, Drs. Kevin Souza and Maria Basco; older sister, Madeleine Souza and younger sister, Adrienne Souza; aunt Kerry Souza of Washington, DC; uncle Brian Souza, aunt Rachel Hitch, and cousin Amelia of Reading, MA; aunt Erin Souza and uncle Andrew Barnhart of San Francisco, CA; uncle Michael Souza and aunt Elisa Kermani of Nantucket, MA; uncle Michael Basco and uncle Marvin Basco of Hacienda Heights, CA; uncle Marty Basco, aunt Karla Basco, and cousin Mia of Brookfield, IL; her grandparents Drs. Maximino and Evelyn Basco of Hacienda Heights, CA; her grandmother Kathleen Souza of Manchester, NH; and many more loving relatives—all of whom will greatly miss her beautiful face, kind smile, warm hugs, and the way she could light up the room.

A wake will be held Friday, April 25 from 4:00-8:00pm at Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory: 1799 Elm Street, Manchester, NH 03104.

A funeral mass will be held Saturday, April 26 at 10:00 am at Saint Joseph Cathedral at: 145 Lowell Street, Manchester, NH. Reception to follow 11:30am - 1:00pm at St. Catherine of Siena School, 207 Hemlock Street, Manchester NH.