Jean Zanini Catanio

Stockton, CA

Jean Zanini Catanio

June 24, 1928 - June 9, 2008

Jean Catanio was born in Rockyford, Colorado on June 24th, 1928. She was the 7th of ten children from Immigrant parents, Louis Zanini of Italy and Rose Pena of Spain. Jean was the youngest of six daughters; Rosie, Mary, Annie, Laura, Margie and herself. She had four brothers; Leo, her elder, and three younger brothers; Joseph, Angelo (nicknamed "lulu"), and Alex (nicknamed "Butch"). Jean is survived by her sister Margie and brothers Joseph and Lulu.

Jean's Father Louis and Mother Mary met and married in Raton, New Mexico at the turn of the 20th century when they were teenagers. Louis came to America through Ellis Island, became a coal minor, rancher, county sheriff, and gaucho, before eventually resettling in Colorado, then Placencia, California, and ultimately, Isleton, California, where he established himself as a Saloon, Hotel and Billiard Hall owner operator. Jean was 14 years old when her family settled in Isleton.

At the young age of 16, Jean married Octavo (Tavo) Catanio, also sixteen. Tavo worked as a farm laborer but soon entered the Merchant Marines. The year was 1944, and World War II was coming to an end. Jean remained married to Tavo for 35 years as a devoted stay-at-home mother.

Tavo would eventually become a Butcher-meat cutter, his lifelong profession. They divorced in 1979, Tavo remarried, but Jean remained single and took a vow of celibacy for the remainder of her life. A devout Roman Catholic, Jean made a vow to never remarry, and to live a life consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in return for blessings and a long life for one of her afflicted grandchildren, young Gregory, who has Cystic Fibrosis. At the time, a life expectancy for children with Cystic Fibrosis was very grim, but with Jean's prayers, and medical advances over the years, Gregory is a healthy young man in his late twenties, a college graduate enjoying a career in journalalism. Greg is the son of Jean's fourth son Joseph, who is a recording artist and restaurateur, living in Palo Cedro, California.

Jean has six sons: the oldest Michael (and wife Debby), a Drug Company Executive living in New Jersey; Samuel (and wife Kelley), a retired Army Sergeant, Grocer and German Cuisine Chef, living in Reno, Nevada; Frank (and wife Prow), a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant and Juvenile Hall Youth Counselor, living in Dixon, California; Joseph (and wife Joni), already mentioned; Thomas (and Elva Catanio a special family friend), a Gerontologist, living in Lake Tahoe, California; and her youngest son, Dan (and wife Karen), Executive Chef at Mills Casino Resort in Coos Bay, Oregon. Jean's youngest child and only daughter Jacqueline ("Jackie") resides in Lodi, California with her husband Michael who's retired from the U.S. Navy. Jean has sixty-two grandchildren and great grandchildren, the eldest Michael Catanio Junior, a 43 year old postman, and the youngest, Nina Valentine Huerta, born on November 7th, 2007.

After her divorce in 1979, Jean went back to school and earned a High School GED Diploma and a certificate as a Nurses Assistant. She worked for ten years at various medical institutions from Washington State, to Little Rock, Arkansas, Savannah, Georgia, and Sacramento, California, including several years as a Hospice Nurse's aid. When Jean retired to Stockton in 1999, she was the personal housekeeper for Cardinal Roger Mahoney, then Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton. She spent the entirety of her retired life involved in church activities, and was a member of numerous Catholic organizations.

Jeans favorite pastimes were Family gatherings, playing the board game Yahtzee with her sisters Annie and Laura (a daily evening ritual until her sister's deaths), playing slot machines in virtually every Casino in California, Nevada and New Jersey, and not least of all, her love of travel. Her most memorable travel experiences, being a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and annual trips to Tuscany, which she enjoyed with her eldest son Michael and his family. Jean was stricken with Spinal and lung cancer in April 2008. After a long and heroic battle, she succumbed to a saintly death on June 9th, 2008, in the company of her sons and daughter, grandchildren, family, and friends.

Family and friends are invited to attend a Vigil Service at the DeYoung Memorial Chapel, 601 N. California St., Stockton, CA. Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Cathedral of the Annunciation, corner of Rose and Van Buren Sts., Stockton, CA Thursday June 12, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. There will be visitation at DeYoungs, Wednesday, 12:00 Noon to 6:00 p.m. and Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Burial will be at the San Joaquin Catholic Cemetery. Online guest book at deyoungmemorialchapel.com