Anna Marie Orsolini

Anna Orsolini passed away peacefully from colon cancer (due to PillCam failure to detect it) at 80 years of age in Santa Cruz surrounded by her loving family. She was born in the Old Santa Cruz Dominican Hospital where Ristorante Italiano is now located. She graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1954 and attended her 50th high school reunion at the Coconut Grove in a 1956 red and white Chevy, similar to the Chevy she used "cruising the drag" known as the boardwalk, Beach Street and Pacific Ave in her younger years. She was escorted to her reunion by her grandson who had just graduated from Santa Cruz High 50 years after his grandmother did. She was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2013, "When a Patient Chooses Wisely," after refusing to have what she perceived as excessive unnecessary surgery by a local orthopedic surgeon (see http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/1710098). She is preceded in death by her husband of 39 years Sergio Orsolini, her son Loren who died at the age of 7 in 1971 from lymphoma, her brother Enrico who died at the age of 7 due to medical error and her parents Salvatore and Alaide Petroni who immigrated over to Santa Cruz from Italy through Ellis Island. She worked at Santa Cruz Land Title Company in downtown Santa Cruz from 1954-1963 where she helped evacuate office files during the 1955 flood. She is survived by daughters Linette and Liana Orsolini, Liana's husband (Philip) Steve Davis, grandson Richard Loren Silveira and his girlfriend Lauren Shellard and close family friend who is like her son, Anthony Leporini. She loved taking care of her family and used to knit them afghans, Barbie doll clothes, sew their clothes and make homemade Italian family recipies. She sold her crafts in boutiques in her home for many years. She especially loved gardening and her heirloom rose garden. A memorial service will be held at Santa Cruz Community Church at 411 Roxas Street in Santa Cruz on Sunday, January 8th. All are invited to the regular Sunday church service from 11am-12:15pm. Reception precedes the memorial service from 12:30pm-1:45pm, followed by the memorial service at 2pm. All who attend the memorial service are invited to the reception. Internment at Holy Cross Cemetery will be private. In lieu of flowers please send a donation to her favorite charities: St Jude's Children's Research Hospital or Assist International (http://www.assistinternational.org/). To share a memory or condolence with Anna's family please visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com.