Obituary of Jeannette Azzarello

Jeannette (Sterbenz) Azzarello

Jeanette Azzarello, died Jan 5, 2020 in her home in Salinas, CA at the age of 82.

She was born Johana Sterbenz Feb 15, 1937 in Queens New York to Slovenian parents John and Angela. She was known as “Jan” throughout her life.

Jan was known to all for her inner strength, positivity, kindness, sharp wit and her deep love of New York City where she explored every corner of the city on adventures with her girlfriends in the 1950’s. Later after moving to the country to raise a family, she toyed with the idea of writing a memior about growing up in New York titled, “When Sex was Dirty and Smoking was Clean”.

Jan married George Azzarello in 1956 and together they raised daughters Kerry and Patty. They were married for 59 years, until the death of George in 2015.

Having grown up in moment in time when she was not allowed to go to college because she was a woman (she wanted to study marine biology!), she made it her life’s work to ensure that her daughters had access to every opportunity in life. For her girls, lessons from early childhood were: boredom was forbidden, college was required, being smart and kind was more important than looking pretty, and creativity and self-reliance were essential.

Once her girls were grown, Jan turned to day trading on the stock market which she loved and thrived at, and was very proud of her success growing her family’s financial position.  

Jan became a good friend and/or an extra mom to everyone who met her. She had a way of really seeing, appreciating, and caring about people that was warm and compelling -- and she always made them laugh.

She will be remembered and missed by many.