Anita Rose Pessagno

April 7, 1936 - March 26, 2018

Anita Rose Escover Pessagno, 81, of Ione, California, and formerly of San Carlos, California, died peacefully on March 26, 2018 at her home, surrounded by her family. She was born April 7, 1936 in San Jose, California to Anthony Escover and Anna Flitner Escover.

Anita was raised on her family’s ranch in Almaden Valley, working aside her father in the apricot, prune and walnut orchards while helping her mother in the kitchen. In 1957, she graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy from Golden Gate College. She married Aldo Pessagno in 1957 – the beginning of a loving marriage that lasted 52 years until Aldo’s passing. In 1962, they moved to San Carlos, where they opened White Oaks Pharmacy: Aldo as the pharmacist, Anita as the bookkeeper, and both of them contributing to a vibrant, family-oriented business that was deeply connected to its community. She was a master chef – her famous bread- and ravioli-making techniques being some of the many staple recipes that she passed along to her four grandsons – and a loving wife, mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother. She was the matriarch of a tight-knit family – the uncontested “Donna Nonna.”

Anita is preceded in death by her husband, Aldo; her son, Stephen; her parents, Anthony and Anna Escover and her brother, Anthony Escover Jr. She is survived by her daughter, Elaine Offenbach (Randy); her four grandsons, Anthony, Stephen, Robert, and John Pessagno; and nieces and nephews.

Private services will be held at the Jackson Catholic Cemetary in Jackson, California. Memorial donations may be made to the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health at 400 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 340, Palo Alto, California 94301. Friends and relatives may visit Daneri Mortuary online at www.danerimortuary.com to sign the memory book and extend condolences to the family.