Sammie Louise Montali

Sammie Louise Montali (née Brocato), daughter of the late Samuel Charles and Rosalie Louise Brocato, passed away May 26, 2026. A native of New Orleans, Sammie was born February 27, 1938, and went to Sacred Heart Academy and then Holy Name of Jesus School. After graduating in 1955, she attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). In August 1958, Sammie caught the eye of Lawrence Richard Montali, a dashing young Coast Guard officer from Connecticut stationed in New Orleans. The Southern Belle and Connecticut Yankee had their first date at the legendary Bali Ha’i restaurant on Lake Pontchartrain. They were married in November 1959 at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in New Orleans, passing under an Arch of Swords created by Coast Guard officers to honor the newlyweds. From there, Larry and Sammie embarked on the peripatetic life common to military families, moving far and wide from Corpus Christi, Texas to Pensacola, Florida; Bermuda, Memphis, Mobile, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Montgomery, Alabama, and other places in between. In total, the growing family lived in 12 cities. Through the uprooting and resettling, Sammie provided a steady ballast with humor and grace, anchoring the family through dozens of schools, sports teams, churches, and communities. The family finally settled in San Diego, CA, in 1979, a paradise Sammie quickly came to cherish. She was a dear friend to many and especially loved her compatriots in the Senior Women’s Basketball Association where she was a founding member and participated for some 25 years. Sammie was preceded in death by her husband of 48 years, Lawrence Richard Montali, Sr. (d. 2007) and is survived by her four children: Bonnie (Christopher) of Escondido, CA; Lawrence Jr. (Veronica) of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Julie (Michael) of Sacramento, CA; and John (Michelle) of San Diego, CA; her beloved sisters, Genevieve Liljeberg of New Orleans and Rose Lynne Liljeberg of Metairie; 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. A Rosary will be prayed June 22 at 6 p.m. at Erickson-Anderson Mortuary in La Mesa, and a funeral Mass will be held June 23 at 11 a.m. at St. Therese Catholic Church in San Diego where Sammie was a parishioner for more than 45 years. Her ashes will be laid to rest alongside Lawrence Sr., overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Sammie will be remembered for her natural grace, honesty, faith, and sense of humor. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Sammie’s name to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation at t2t.org.

View a video celebrating Sammie's life and times at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGpKK9_vH3U