Marlis (Eberle) Risso

After several months of illness Marlis “Nana” Risso left on her final journey. Dearly missed by her daughter Dr. Marlis Eleanor Risso, her son Frank (Robyn) Risso, and most importantly by her granddaughter Olive Risso, the two of whom loved each other ‘to the moon and back.’ She also leaves behind her siblings, twin brother Joe (Adeline) Eberle, James (Genie) Eberle, Margarith (Donald) Crowe, and George (Karen) Eberle. Marlis is happy to be reunited with her husband Henry, her parents Gertrude and John Eberle, her siblings Jack (Dolores) Eberle, Gertrude (Aldo) Bignardi, and Maryann (Woody) Collier. So, don’t worry for she is in great company.

Marlis was born at the height of the Great Depression into a poor, Swiss immigrant family. She lived on the wrong side of the tracks in a town her parish priest referred to in homilies as the “Vestibule of Hell” ~ of course, we all know it as Colma.

The oldest daughter in the Eberle’s large family of eight kids, Marlis’ life journey was exceptional among women of her generation. She was the first in her family to go to college, earning a nursing degree before serving her nation in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corp, where she tended to sailors returning from the Korean War.

Her requested transfer to Japan was countered by the Navy with an offer to send her to Guam, and it was then she decided, with some Divine Guidance, to choose a different career path by joining the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. But the head-strong Colma girl didn’t see eye to eye with her superiors, and after 8 years she chose a new path as resident nurse for the State of Hawaii’s Leper Colony at Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai, made famous by Sts. Damien and Marianne Cope. A place of immense beauty and even greater sorrow, it was from this remote location that she finally journeyed back to South City to marry her husband, Henry Risso. There they raised a family and ran their business, Junipero Serra Nursery.

The role of family matriarch was Marlis’ true calling, especially when playing the foil to the shenanigans of her granddaughter Olive. What a life! Please do not be sad, for Marlis is not dead. Her spirit lives on in the hearts of all who knew her and she is on to the next exciting part of her journey. She assured us numerous times before leaving that this is not a good-bye, for a day will come when we are all reunited again. A celebration of her life is scheduled for 10:00am, Friday, October 19 at St. Veronica’s Church, 434 Alida Way, South San Francisco.