Sally Gwen Garbarino
Oct 13, 1934-July 27, 2018
Sally Gwen Garbarino It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our mother, wife, grandmother and great-grandmother, lovingly called ‘Mam’ on Friday, the 27th of July. She died surrounded by her entire family and passed from this life peacefully.
Sally Gwen was born on 13 October 1934 in Seattle, Washington to Gwen and Albert Safholm. She was their third child and was sister to Bud and Carol. Her father was a Merchant Marine during WWII, and was listed as missing for days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He then went on to work as a marine engineer, moving his family to San Francisco in 1942 to work for various sea-going operations on the Embarcadero. It was during those early years, while walking or traveling by bus, that Sally developed her love of all things San Francisco - including the Giants!
As a student at Galileo High School, she met the love of her life, Joe Garbarino, just outside of her civics class - they enjoyed 63 wonderful years of marriage while raising their family in San Rafael.
Family was the center of Sally’s life, spending many hours researching her Scandinavian heritage and traveling numerous times to Norway and Sweden to maintain ties to family there.
Charismatic and known for her sense of humor and wit, she was also resourceful - from sewing her children’s clothes from scratch to painting her own home three times around.
Her generous spirit was also widely known and extended beyond her family, as pet-adoption was one of her many passions, she rescued many, many dogs from the Marin Humane Society.
A humble and hardworking lady of grace, she and her husband, Joe, together raised four daughters Patty, Judy (Steve Rosa), Joanne (Mike Pelfini) and Suzi (John Oranje) - and then went on to help raise her grandchildren Joseph and John Rosa, Joseph, Gwen and James Pelfini and Jenna Minton and Jonathan Oranje. She is also survived by five great-grandchildren Giovanna and Rico Pelfini and Dominic, Justin and Natalie Minton. She also left behind numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.
Her family will not forget, and wish to thank, the incredible and kind care that she received from Rowena, Ana, Elin, Roberta and Pat and from Hospice Continuum and would like to suggest, in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to that phenomenal organization or to Marin Center for Independent Living. Heartfelt thanks to Mike Rossi who prepared delicious meals for Sally, Joe, family and caregivers during this difficult time.
A Celebration of Life in Sally’s memory will be held on Friday, August 3rd at 11:00 AM, at St. Raphael’s Church in San Rafael.