Delonna Carrillo- Zarelli

Delonna Ann Carrillo-Zarelli passed away in Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota Florida. Delonna was battling triple negative metastatic breast cancer for 4 years. She fought long and hard to stay with her family. Her fight ended on March 02, 2026, at 10:43 am. She was 58 years old. Delonna was born in Tacoma, Washington to two loving parents Patricia Ann Pine and Larry Michael Horsman. Delonna has two siblings Kenny and Becky Horsman. Delonna left behind 6 children Jeffrey Larry Drew, Katie Ann Drew, Justin Luke Carrillo, Jenna Delonna Carrillo, Justus Levi Phillips, and Jake Thomas Carrillo. Delonna left behind 8 grandchildren and counting, Sailor Mae Bahr Drew, Killian Grey Bahr Drew, Elizabeth Jordan Phillips, Levi Chandler Phillips, Dutton Herring, Carter Herring, Autumn Herring, and Baby Herring. Delonna lived life as an extremely bright blue-white star, her life was way too short, but she accomplished what would take most people three lifetimes to accomplish. Her life was short but high energy. Most people live life in the slow lane, they go to work and they go on a couple vacations a year and they live until they’re ninety. Most people don’t do or see half of what Delonna did. Delonna was always full of energy waking up around 4 AM and running around with her pants on fire! Delonna never stopped. Delonna would have a full day of fun, go to bed and wake up and run 8 to 10 miles every morning. Delonna went to school and got her Bachelor of Nursing from Washington State where she spoke at her graduation. She went on to get her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Washington where she was a graduate fellowship and top scholar. She was a researcher and PHD student and a published author. She was a registered nurse and worked as a house supervisor at Central Florida Behavioral Hospital. On top of being extremely gifted academically she still found time to have 6 children and take them all on so many trips. Delonna was a loving Wife and Mother. Delonna was fearless her whole life she was a fighter dealing with constant adversity which she always overcame. She was consistent, where most people went to the gym the first two weeks of the new year, Delonna would run every single day for 50 years. She was consistent in everything she did, she did not miss work, she was always full of energy. She worked three 16 hour shifts a week so she could work full time and still go on vacation frequently. She never looked away from hard work. She could talk forever about everything from politics to animals to the best places to travel. She had a wealth of information she was so engaging. She loved animals, her two best friends in her last days were a dog named Buddy and a great man named Kenneth Gleason. She’d spend so much time with both. Delonna never let anything stop her from what she wanted to do, while diagnosed with terminal cancer she travelled 70 countries, she went hang-gliding, ATVing, jet skiing, and saw volcanos erupt. She lived life to the fullest, she kept her yard perfect and her house neat. She kept in contact with all her children and coworkers, when she felt weak, she would persevere. When she felt off, she would not show it. When she was in pain, she always looked healthy. She was and is an inspiration and when she was on her last stand, she radiated hope, everything about herself in her final days screamed that she would get out of that hospital bed.

Delonna was full of miracles where most people would turn back Delonna would run ahead. She was a born leader; she was not made to follow. In her final days she refused to blow into devices the hospital staff instructed her to blow into; she ripped out feeding tubes and she would roll her eyes when the hospital made a comment about what she needed. All the way up to the end she stuck to her guns and was extremely expressive. She has never been afraid to say what she meant. One of her best qualities is even in situations where she had very little control, in situations where most people would be afraid, she was still confident in what she needed. She did not fear anybody. She had great instincts and she knew when things were off well before the doctors did, she could feel infections. When chemo failed, she noticed her hair growing back before the doctors noticed the chemo stopped working. She had great instincts. She was the perfect balance between responsible and fun. She always had a trip planned but she also paid off her house as soon as she could. She plans for the worse, but she was always smart enough to avoid pitfalls that most would stumble into. The world will never be the same without her in it, but her memory and the life lessons she taught anyone smart enough to pay attention to, will live on in all who loved her. Her light on earth may have burned out, but that light will radiate through her family line, and the heavens above when she finally returns home.