Mr. Santos Joe Vella

Santos was born May 14, 1944 in Corpus Christi, TX and moved to Imperial Beach, CA when he was eight years old. He was a Graduate of Mar Vista High School and then he joined the United States Army.

Pre-deceased by his parents, Aurora A Vella and Reynaldo C Vella. Survived by his wife of fifty years Christine Vella, children Kristy, Rob, and Donald, daughter-in-law, Ysela and granddaughter’s Samantha and Savanna. He was also a cat dad to several cats over the years, most recently two Maine Coon kitties, Princess Kobe and her brother Joey.

Known as Joe to most family and friends, he retired after forty years of working for ROHR Industries, an aerospace company, in Chula Vista, CA.

A visitation for Santos will be held Thursday, January 12, 2023 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at The Chapel of the Roses at Glen Abbey Memorial Park and Mortuary, 3838 Bonita Road, Bonita, California 91902. A funeral service will occur Friday, January 13, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at The Chapel of the Roses at Glen Abbey Memorial Park and Mortuary.

For those that may wish to make a charitable donation in the Vella name please do so at

https://secure.pancan.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app30129a?idb=1143434432&df_id=2340&FR_ID=2546&mfc_pref=T&PROXY_ID=3394157&PROXY_TYPE=20&2340.donation=form1&NONCE_TOKEN=C6865C7772A2A89793BF59B8099A6EA9&s_subsrc=bfSocFbPfMsg&s_src=boundlessfundraising

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.glenabbeysandiego.net for the Vella family.