Life Tributes
LA JOLLA — Janice Antoinette Zamudio was born in Chicago, Illinois, and she was very proud of her Polish heritage.
When she was at a young age, the family moved to Hollywood, California. She attended and graduated from Hollywood High School and UCLA. As a young teenager, she worked as an extra in the movies and also later worked as a model. While studying at UCLA, she also worked part-time in banking.
Janice and Tony Zamudio had known each other since they were students at Le Conte Junior High School in Hollywood. They were married during his senior year at Creighton Medical School. Following his graduation, they returned to Los Angeles. They were quickly blessed with three children: Laurie, Sabrina, and Brian.
As a result of the Vietnam War, she became a military bride and the family moved to Augusta, Georgia. She became very involved in the officer’s wife’s auxiliary and marveled at the beauty of the gardens filled with the azaleas and magnolia trees in Augusta.
After the end of the war, they settled in Pasadena, California. As time passed, she became very involved in real estate and moved and restored houses in Pasadena.
This would be the start of a long endeavor for her which gave her a lot of satisfaction.
The family relocated to La Jolla. She became an active member of the community and served on the La Jolla Shores advisory committee. She never lost her passion for gardening and was a member of the La Jolla Garden club. She always looked forward to the meetings to learn more and to get together with the ladies. She also enjoyed going to the annual Secret Gardens of La Jolla event.
Janice was an expert seamstress and began sewing as a young teenager and made many of her fashionable clothes on her Singer sewing machine. This talent was very appreciated by the family when there was an alteration to be made!
Janice loved playing the piano and did so all her life until her Parkinson’s disease took that joy away from her.
She enjoyed the many trips near and far with family and friends. She especially enjoyed those that included all the grandchildren.
She loved the Sierra mountains and going to the cabin in Mammoth. She always looked forward to going to the annual Mammoth Fireman’s Picnic with the family.
She also enjoyed the winter there and to snowshoe in the woods. She skied, but one-time got too daring and ended up with a fractured leg and cast.
One special family trip she enjoyed was going to China when it first opened up to tourists. She enjoyed the many exotic things to see and do, especially walking on the Great Wall.
Janice loved to entertain and the parties she organized years later are still fondly remembered by the guests. Despite her busy life, she found time to volunteer serving food for Father Joe to feed the homeless.
Janice always looked forward to going to the exercise classes at the La Jolla YMCA which she did for years. She was very fond of the program and staff.
She enjoyed attending the Parents’ and Grandparents’ Day at the Bishops School where the children attended.
She worshiped at All
Hallows Church in La Jolla where her children were baptized and married.
She is survived by her husband, Dr. Zamudio; her daughter Laurie Whalen of Pasadena and husband Tim, grandson Anthony Whalen, a student at USD, and granddaughter Madeline Whalen, a student at Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena; her daughter Sabrina Smith of Sacramento and husband Shaun, grandson Martin Smith, a student at the Marshall School of Business at USC and granddaughter Nora Smith, a student at Loyola Marymount University; her son Brian of La Jolla, granddaughter Katlyn Zamudio, a graduate of UCSB and film director and grandson Warren Zamudio, in graduate studies in engineering at UCSB; her sister Lynda Halko of Las Vegas, Nevada, and her brother Gary Halko DDS of Austin, Texas.
She died peacefully at home from advanced Parkinson’s disease on November 14, 2022, with her family at her side.
A funeral Mass will be held on December 2nd, 2022 at 3:00 pm at All Hallows Catholic Church in La Jolla, California. To share photos and memories of her life, please visit dignitymemorial.com