Jean Vespa

Jean Vespa, 83, passed away on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on December 12th, in San Diego. Born in Passaic, NJ, she was the daughter of Nicholas Vespa and Bertha Djewicz, Jean graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with an Associate’s degree in Merchandising. She worked in several industries, from being a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines in the 1950s, to working on programming for CBS in Manhattan, to being an executive assistant at the United Nations in Rome, but Jean’s passion was acting, and she worked as an actress and translator in the entertainment industry, both in the U.S. and Italy. Jean was a Catholic and when she moved from Rome, Italy back to the United States, she listed the Pope as her previous priest when she registered at her new parish in Wayne, NJ. Her faith was extremely important to her, and she had a special devotion to St. Therese, St. Jude and St. Anthony. Jean was a parishioner of St. Therese Catholic Church, in Carmel Valley, for the last 27 years, where she served as a lector at masses with her daughter, Nicole. Jean loved to travel, play tennis, cook, but it was her connections with others, and her laugh, that she will be most remembered for. Jean’s hearty, sincere, boisterous laugh was infectious, and her sense of humor and wit, brought joy to all her relationships. Jean is survived by her daughter, Nicole, son-in law, David and light of her life, her 2 year old granddaughter, Giovanna Rose. There will be a viewing from 10:30am to 11am, followed by a funeral mass, at St Therese Catholic Church in Carmel Valley, on Tuesday, December 20th. Then, at 12:30pm, there will be a graveside blessing at El Camino Memorial in Sorrento Valley, ending with a floral send-off. At 3pm, there will be light food served at Jean’s favorite restaurant, Il Fornaio, in Del Mar. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations towards the funeral/burial can be made at the following Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/celebrate-the-life-of-jean-vespa