John A. Sarconi, MD
October 6, 1931-July 27, 2021
Resident of San Mateo, CA
John Sarconi led a long, rewarding, and abundant life, enjoying two happy marriages, six loving children and 4 beloved grandchildren, wonderful friends, and a stimulating and immensely satisfying career. He died on July 27, 2021, 71 days shy of his 90th birthday and 3 weeks short of his 1st wedding anniversary to his second wife, Marjorie Robinson.
John was born in Denver, CO, to Marion Cullen Sarconi and Anthony Joseph Sarconi, and was raised there with his younger siblings, Carole and Pat (Tony), surrounded by a large extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. His mother was a nurse and her great admiration for the doctors she worked with sparked an early interest in the medical career that would define his life.
At the age of 18, a year after graduating from North High School and as he was starting his sophomore year at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he married his high-school sweetheart, Luanne Chambliss (after altering his driver’s license to appear to have reached the age of consent). He became a father at 20, while still an undergraduate. The following years were lean and challenging, as he worked his way through college and medical school, taking jobs as a dishwasher, fry cook, furniture salesman, and door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman, among others.
After completing medical school and an internship in Michigan, John went into active duty with the air force to repay the scholarship he’d received. Over the next 6 years he moved his growing family to Alabama, Texas, and the Florida panhandle, driving the family station wagon full of carsick children and at least one howling cat and towing a trailer with all their worldly possessions behind them.
Luanne had always dreamed of living in California, so, in 1963 they packed up and drove cross-country yet again, now with 5 children and #6 on the way. After 4 years in southern California, they realized their mistake and moved to the promised land, San Mateo, 20 miles south of San Francisco. It was 1967, the Summer of Love, and one of the first things they did was to visit the Haight Ashbury. They never looked back.
John joined the highlyrespected medical practice of Drs. Harold “Hal” Hopper and Edward “Bud” Persike in San Mateo and spent the next 29 years serving the community while doing what he loved. He chose internal medicine because of the intellectual rigor it required. His children will tell you that every night after dinner he retired to his study to read his medical journals. They remember the phone ringing in the middle of the night and the front door opening and closing 10 minutes later. His patients loved him because they knew they were getting his best, and his best was the best there was. As the medical practice thrived and grew, they were fortunate enough to be joined by Drs. Beatty “Chip” Ramsay and Dale Ritzo. He held his colleagues in the highest esteem both personally and professionally. The office was also blessed to have an exceptional and dedicated staff, many of whom became life-long personal friends. John thoroughly enjoyed this time of his life and loved being a part of such a wonderful community.
Many virtuous words can be used to describe John: hard-working, responsible, dedicated, and compassionate, among others. He had a strong sense of propriety, of right and wrong, and was a man of impeccable integrity. He was also a man of many interests. He played the piano and tennis, enjoyed fishing, loved Mendocino and Carmel, visited the de Young Museum and Palace of the Legion of Honor often, was knowledgeable about and savored fine wines and enjoyed a good margarita. He loved to travel, was an accomplished photographer, and read widely, especially history.
Although the demands of his career, especially in the early days, meant long hours at the hospital, John did his best to spend time with his family. On his days off he and Luanne would bundle the kids into the station wagon to go sight-seeing, to museums and parks, the cider mill, and the beach. He loved talking sports with his sons, Matt & Zack, and grandson, Paul. He taught the youngest kids to play tennis, tried to teach everyone how to play chess, and once gave the two oldest a memorable lecture on the workings of the aorta. He tolerated Luanne’s love of cats but they eventually grew on him and he came to adore his last two, Circe and Sophie. Once his children finally got around to making him and Luanne grandparents, he relished the role of “Nonno” to each of his exceptionally talented, intelligent, and adorable grandchildren, Emma, Paul, Sean, and Zoe.
After retiring in 1996, he volunteered with Samaritan House, Doctors without Borders, and Mission Hospice. He studied writing and wrote poems, short stories, and a memoir, “In Pursuit of Dreams”, about his early days of medical training as a young husband and father. He also studied Italian and opera (listening, not singing). It was in an opera class in 2017 that he met his 2nd wife, Marjorie Robinson, 5 years after the death of his beloved Luanne after 61 wonderful years of marriage. Their budding romance got a boost when, as fellow parishioners of the Unitarian Universalist Church of San Mateo, he impulsively asked for a hug instead of a handshake from Marjorie as she greeted members of the congregation one Sunday. The rest is history.
He often said that he was a very lucky man to have had not one, but two, great loves in his life. He was fortunate to have met two exceptional women but it was his warmth, intelligence, humor, vitality, and kindness that attracted them and earned their love and devotion. He was an exceptionally attentive and perceptive listener. He made lifelong friendships and corresponded with a dizzying number of people. He loved dinner parties and a good laugh. He was generous, gracious, courteous, even gallant. But despite all his gifts and the respect and admiration of many, he was a modest and unpretentious man. He led an exemplary life and left an indelible mark on all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.
We are very grateful to his wonderful and caring doctors, the staff at the Stratford and especially those in the Laurel Wing, and the excellent nurses and staff of Mission Hospice, all of whom helped to make him feel loved and comfortable in his last days.
John is survived by his wife, Marjorie Robinson, his children Kathy, Kristy (Neil), Mark (Claire), Matt (Jen), Claudia (David), and Zack, his beloved grandchildren Emma (Nate), Paul (Haley), Sean Blackfield (Julia), and Zoe Chien and her father, Daniel Chien, his sister, Carole Murray, and brother, Tony (Gerry), and their daughters, Melissa, Rae An, and Brenda, Marjorie’s two daughters, Katie and Kimi, and numerous cousins, 2nd cousins, and cousins twice removed.
A Celebration of Life will be held when the pandemic is under control. Donations may be made to the Peninsula Humane Society, Mission Hospice, Samaritan House, or the non-profit of your choice.