Marianne Pellegrini

Marianne Claire (Teresi) Pellegrini

Resident of San Jose

1924 - 2012

Our loving mother passed peacefully on to join dad and our brother Marc in heaven on Mother's Day, having lost her long battle with breast cancer. She spent her last days at her home in The Villages with family and friends who helped her find her way to eternal rest.

Marianne is survived by her sons, Carlo (Nyack, NY) and Ron and his wife Niamh (Los Altos, CA); her brother Robert and his wife Donna (Los Gatos, CA); her sister Geraldine (San Jose, CA); grandsons Giancarlo and Joseph and her granddaughter Christina Maire; nieces Gerrie Ann Bannister (Teresi) and Kelly Horan (Teresi); nephews Joe Teresi, Dr. Louis Teresi, Matthew Teresi and Todd Teresi and their many children and family members. She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 21 years Pellegrino (Pal) Pellegrini; her youngest son Marc; her parents, Joseph A. and Clara Teresi (Saratoga, CA); and her older brother Dr. Joseph Teresi of Milwaukee, WI.

Born in Saratoga on the fruit ranch owned and operated by her father, she was a part of the valley's history that has so quickly faded from view. Picking and processing apricots for drying, helping her mother feed the ranch hands, and helping her dad with daily chores were all a part of her early life's experiences. She was also an accomplished performer as a young girl, studying ballet, developing her acrobatic skills, and taking acting classes in Saratoga from the mother of actresses Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland. After attending Los Gatos High (class of '42), she went on to receive her degree from the O'Connor Hospital School of Nursing in 1948 and became a surgical nurse, working in that same hospital until her marriage in 1951.

A widow for nearly forty years, the great memories we all have come from the years in Palo Alto, beginning in 1952 when mom and dad opened and then operated Pellegrini's Crescent Pharmacy in the old Whiskey Gulch district of Palo Alto. As active members of St. Albert the Great parish community and school lifelong friendships were built and nurtured that survive to this day. Great times with great people. She created and managed a beautiful home and provided her family with all the care and love that anyone could ever hope for in a lifetime. After losing her husband in 1972, she relocated to the Oak Creek Apartments in Palo Alto where for the next 25 years she was at the center of all things tennis. It became her passion and both her physical and social outlet and created yet another new group of close friends with whom she enjoyed life to its fullest. Transitioning to The Villages in 1998 gave her yet another venue to exhibit her tennis skills and she played every day until her 80th birthday, making more great friends along the way, especially her caring neighbors Jan Holland and Shirley Roberts. She will be missed and loved forever.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday evening, May 17, at 6:00pm at St. Albert the Great Church in Palo Alto, 1095 Channing Avenue, Palo Alto. Reception to follow in the parish hall. Contributions in her memory can be made to National AIDS Memorial Grove - Golden Gate Park - San Francisco.