Jeanne L. Sarmiento

Jeanne Sarmiento was born on February 2, 1933, in San Diego, California. She was the daughter of John and Bernice Hanson. She had three sisters, Carol, Linda and Billie and one brother John. She was an eleventh generation San Diegan and enjoyed telling stories of her ancestors and growing up on Old Town, San Diego. She attended Our Land of Angels and Regina Ceali Catholic schools. Her Catholic faith was very important to her.

After high school she worked for Kress dime store in downtown San Diego. It was her first job, which she enjoyed. In the early fifties she met and fell in love with Ralph Sarmiento, an employee with her father’s house moving business. Ralph and Jeanne were married on November 5th, 1955. The got busy and had five children, Michael, Lisa, Lori, John and Cynthia. Jeanne loved her children very much and was devoted to them.

Sometimes the stress of raising five kids was a bit much for Jeanne so she turned to Diet Pepsi, tuna sandwiches and Salem cigarettes. Jeanne eventually became a Grandmother when her children started their families. She ended up having seven grandkids, Michael, Alisa, Gabriel, Marina, Marizela, Natasia and Anthony. She enjoyed visits from all her grandkids and would spoil them rotten. The grandkids started having kids and she loved the thought of being a Great Grandmother. She had five great grandchildren, Analisa, Natalie, Liliana, Gaberial and Gianna. She loved showering her family with an over abundance of gifts at Christmas and on birthdays.

Jeanne owned a used building materials business with Ralph. She enjoyed meeting new people, building muscles and most of all being the boss. She loved telling stories of the customers she encountered and items she purchased to re-sale. Her most memorable story was the purchase of a Civil War era lamp at a garage sale for $5.00. She turned around and sold it to an antiques dealer for $500.00. The San Diego Architectural foundation awarded her business an “Onion Award” for the lack of beauty the building and surrounding landscaping had. Jeanne politely declined the annual award by telling the event organizers to stick their “Onion” up their asses. Jeanne closed her business after the property, it sat on, sold due to the revitalization of Downtown San Diego in early 2000.

Jeanne enjoyed her retirement by spending more time with her family. She enjoyed the holidays with Christmas being her favorite. She would decorate her house with Dickens Holiday Villages and a giant Christmas tree. Christmas Eve dinners were a 45 year tradition with tamales, beans and rice enjoyed by all.

Jeanne fulfilled her wish of seeing Disneyland at Christmas time two years in a row. The look on her face and the sights and sounds are priceless memories forever cherished by her family. Jeanne had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas where she enjoyed a concert by the Platters, Coasters and the Shirelles. She later had the opportunity to attend Humphrey’s Concerts on the Bay where she listened to Doo-Wop. After the show she had the opportunity to meet all of the performers with her favorite being Paul and Paula.

On November 5th, 2005, Jeanne and Ralph celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Jeanne threw herself a grand party and enjoyed every minute of it. It was attended by family and friends who enjoyed the evening with food, drink and dancing.

Shortly after her party, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She fought a courageous battle for seven years despite being diagnosed with four new types of cancer. On September 29th 2012 Jeanne passed away from complication of breast cancer. She was surrounded by her loving children and husband. She will always be remembered for being a kind and loving person. Her family with miss her along with Sunday dinners, birthday celebrations, summertime Scrabble marathons, holidays and her words of wisdom.