Joan E. Barsanti

Born February 27, 1931, in Albany, California, and raised by Joseph and Sophie “Nanny” Rampone, Joan was a natural extrovert who made friends wherever she went. Ever the woman about town who never left the house without lipstick and rouge, Joan, ironically, spent her teenage years picking and packing fruit on a ranch in Lincoln, California.

By her mid-20s, she was back in the big city, working at the Tidewater Oil Company. There, she met Henry Barsanti, former track star and fullback, and “the most handsome man” she’d ever seen. The two wed on April 12, 1958.

Joan wore the Barsanti name with pride, and anyone who met her knew her family were her treasures. In 1983, she welcomed her first grandchild and became “Grammy.” Eight more grandchildren (her “darlings,” “munchkins,” and “cherubs”) would follow throughout the years. And no misstep or mistake could make Grammy love them less—not even accidentally flooding her kitchen.

Grammy could spot a fib a mile away: “Don’t you tell Grammy stories!” And none dared. At Grammy’s house, there was no room for bickering. Every toy went back in its place. Kids were in charge of juicing oranges, and yellow mustard was cooked into scrambled eggs. Grammy’s pipe organ was strictly off-limits because it “had an owie,” but only until the rare occasions when she played a tune.

Grammy loved dancing, crossword puzzles, classical music, solitaire, making homemade jam, hosting Easter dinner on the covered patio, baking pizzelles and bunny-shaped cakes with her granddaughters, embroidering tea towels, a good glass of Two Buck Chuck, analyzing her family’s sun signs (before it was cool), and Panera.

Grammy had an -ism for every occasion:

“That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”

“It’s kismet.”

“That’s not my bailiwick.”

“She ran away with the circus.”

“Don’t hold anything back. Tell us how you really feel.”

“I live in Sac-a-tomatoes.”

Without a doubt, she believed she was the luckiest woman in the world for being a Barsanti.

Widowed 38 years, she is preceded in death by her husband and survived by three sons (Hank, Steven, and Todd), three daughters-in-law (Amy, Susan, and Alice), nine grandchildren (Adam, Erin, Logan, Skylar, Chelsea, Noah, Renata, Sophia, and Eliza), and three great-grandchildren (Benjamin, Hannah, and Haley). Her family will lay her to rest in a private ceremony in Sacramento.