February 22, 1933 - January 14, 2021
Marianna Victoria Sperling died on 14 January 2021 at the age of 87. Prior to her death from SARS-CoV-2, she was at an advanced, debilitating stage of Parkinson’s disease. She was a first generation American, born in San Francisco. Her mother, Vera Frances Borg (née Volkert), emigrated as a young child to the United States from Australia at the turn of the century and her father, Emanuel Angelo Borg, emigrated as a young man in the late1920’s from Malta. She attended and graduated from Lowell High School, the elite public high school in the Bay Area, in 1950. She attended business school, but left without graduating and moved to Winnipeg, Canada. Shortly after she returned to San Francisco, she married Vernon Paul Sperling in 1956 and moved to Lodi in 1959, where she lived—with an extended residency in Stockton—until she died. They amicably divorced in 1972 and continued to share Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the 4th of July holidays to minimize the impact of the divorce on ‘the kids’. She was a homemaker until the mid-1960s when she entered the workforce, initially as a bookkeeper at Lodi Truck Service and then at James Allen’s Meats. She then embarked on a career as a budget analyst for the U.S. Navy at Rough and Ready Island in Stockton. She retired from the Department of the Navy after 25 years of service. Her exacting bookkeeping and budgeting skills rubbed off on each of her children and was a great gift; we can all stretch a dollar beyond belief.
Marianna Sperling was an active, long-time member of St. Anne’s Catholic Church. She was a member of the Daughters of Isabella and St. Anne’s Seniors, she served on the church’s Outreach Program for 15 years, and she managed the tithes account for the church pro bono. She was also a member of the Portuguese Club as well as a volunteer for the Lodi Police Department Partner’s program, Children’s Dream Works, and the Lodi Community Service Center. She had a strong sense of community and it was an article of faith that each person had an obligation to help the less fortunate or those in need. It is an obligation that she more than fulfilled and passed along to her children. Marianna also made deep and lasting friendships in these different capacities and her places of employment. She forged long and enduring friendships with two of her colleagues at the Department of the Navy, Linda Patrick and Katie Roe, who kept in touch with our mother until the end. Similarly, she had a sustained forty-year friendship with Nancy Haberman, with whom she shared mutual enthusiasms for ceramics, thrift store shopping, and eggplant parmigiana.
Marianna was not only a loving mother, but extremely proud of her children and their spouses: Jim Sperling (m. Joy Sperling), Gail Sanders (m. Jim Sanders), Mark Sperling (m. Rita Sperling), and Laurie Beach, all of whom survive her. She took even greater pride in her grandchildren: Vincent Battilana, JD; Victoria Walker-Sperling, PhD; and Addison Beach, BA. She was predeceased by her sister, Verna Stewart.
The family would like to extend their sincere thanks to the staff at Balance Assisted Living for their love and care of our mother.
SERVICES:
A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, February 9th at 10:00 a.m. at Cherokee Memorial Park, Hwy 99 and Harney Lane in Lodi.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the charity of your choice.
We also request that you wear a mask and be vaccinated as soon as possible so a loved one will be spared the task writing a premature obituary for you.
