Anna Louise Sanfilippo

February 24, 1938 - April 13, 2022

LA MESA — Anna was born and raised in San Diego. She graduated from Sweetwater High School. Her parents were both born in Puerto Rico, but her grandparents were from Spain. Anna was one of a kind. She was beautiful, spicy, stubborn, independent, generous to a fault and above all else, a Great mom. She was the eldest girl in a family of 6 kids. Her mom and dad, Victoria and Hipolito Ramirez, have passed away. Her brothers, Armando and Robert, are also gone.

Anna is survived by her sisters, Maria, Lydia, Rosie and by her daughters, Dora and Delina, her sonin-law, Bill, grandchildren, Sabrina and James, and many nieces and nephews. She met Don Sanfilippo in the early 60s and married in 1963. Two daughters, Dora and Delina were born. Don was born in Sicily and came to the U.S. in 1953. Don and Anna decided to open a family restaurant to provide a future for their family. On August 3rd, 1975, Sanfilippo’s Pizza was born. It soon became a local landmark. For 32 years, Anna and Don worked side by side. The restaurant business is not for the faint of heart. You worked long hours with few vacations or hobbies. She loved to greet her customers as they came in, and knew many of them by name. She hosted La Mesa Village meetings, little league teams, wedding rehearsals, and countless birthday parties.

Anna loved to remodel each house that she moved us to. She would go room by room until it was as good as new. Then it was on to the next house.

She loved to paint, but wallpaper was her thing. Decorating the banquet room window at the restaurant was her next new-found project. Each holiday display was more elaborate than the next.

In 2012, Anna lost her husband of 49 years. She tried to find her new normal, but life had changed dramatically. Sanfilippo’s closed its doors on June 26th 2016. She greeted her customers until the end. Her retirement was quiet. She moved in with family. She passed away after a short illness. Our hearts will never be the same without you, Mom!

In lieu of flowers, please donate to one of the following organizations:

San Diego Humane Society, https://www. sdhumane.org/

or Breast Cancer Research, https://www. komen.org/.