Balestrieri, Barbara Ann

Barbara Ann Balestrieri, age 86 of Sonora, California (formerly of Coulterville), born May 10, 1937 in San Francisco, California, passed away Monday, April 22, 2024 at Meadowview Manor in Sonora, California. Born to Hugo and Rose Puccinelli in San Francisco, California, Barbara spent a life time enjoying every moment and creating long lasting relationships with those she loved. Barbara grew up in San Francisco in an Italian family spending summers traveling to Yosemite, picking plums in Santa Rosa, and sunbathing at the Russian River. She met the love of her life, Peter Balestrieri while roller skating the steep streets of the city. They were neighbors and six years old at the time. Barbara and Peter were married for 65 wonderful years and together they raised a happy family and built a beautiful home in Coulterville. Barbara worked for the phone company before marrying Peter and then spent her years living life to its fullest. She was a devoted teacher’s aide at Sonora High, and the sassy waitress at the monthly Coulterville Museum
Pancake Breakfasts. She was an avid reader, enjoyed taking care of her rose garden, and she was a character in the best possible way. Most of all, she loved her family. And her friends. Throughout her life, she kept in contact with friends from grammar school, Catalina Avenue, and the Moccasin gang. Barbara passed away on April 22, 2024 from a
heartbreaking battle with dementia. She was preceded in death by her parents Hugo and Rose, and by her infant son Stephen who died in 1960. Barbara is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Peter, and by her sister Rosemarie Niles. Her four children and their families: Cheryl, Gary and Tami, John and Misty, and Peter and Amber and her beautiful grandchildren: Nicholas, Kyle, Giovanni, Katherine, Granger, Lola, and Enzo. She is also survived by so many supportive family members and friends. Her memory will be a blessing to all of us. We would like to thank the kind and compassionate care of so many members of her Tuolumne county community with special thanks to her physician Dr. Matthew Personius, the registered nurses with Seventh Day Adventist Hospice, and Bea Schoon and the caregiving angels at Meadowview Manor. No services will be held. It was Barbara’s wish that her family and friends get together to celebrate her life. We are planning to get together soon. If she were here, she would ask you to make life fun, laugh every day, and “Don’t take any wooden nickels!” We miss her so much. Terzich & Wilson Cremation-Funeral Home entrusted with Cremation arrangements.