Lillian (Lily) Duzanica
Nov. 13, 1926-Nov. 19, 2019
MENLO PARK, CA

Lily was born in Los Gatos to David and Emilia Garibaldi and was extremely proud of her Italian heritage. Both her parents were immigrants from Frisolino in the Liguria Province of Italy. Lily had many interests in her life including writing her family's history that dated to the 7th Century and included Giuseppe Garibaldi, the liberator of present day Italy. Her father was given Giuseppe as his middle name at birth in 1866 in honor of his cousin Giuseppe.

She grew up in North Beach in San Francisco and then moved to Menlo Park with the family during high school in 1940. Her high school sweetheart, John Duzanica joined the US Navy upon their graduation from Sequoia High School in 1944 and saw duty in the South Pacific for the remainder of the war. They were married at Nativity Church in Menlo Park in 1948 before John started his junior year at Santa Clara University. Lily and John settled and built their their own home in downtown Menlo Park in 1952 and Lily considered herself an excellent cement finisher among her many other building talents.

After John's passing in 1978 Lily devoted her time to learning new hobbies, traveling the world and to doing numerous charitable works which included volunteering for many years with The American Cancer Society and Stanford's Children's Hospital but her true devotion was always to her family. She felt that nothing was more important than maintaining a very loving and strong family. Her home became a hub for family, friends and neighbors to come by an visit for 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 months. She accepted all who came with open arms and would always feed you like you hadn’t eaten in days. She was an amazing listener and would never judge people. She would think nothing of jumping in the car and driving through the mountains of La Honda to to visit her kids and grandkids and maybe deliver a batch of her home-made "Secret Family Recipe" raviolis. She hosted dinners and lunches, Christmas’ and Thanksgivings, and always included anyone who might show up. She was a wonderful, kind, and compassionate person who always stayed positive and was always there when you needed advice. In the last few years of her life she started to suffer from memory loss and needed to change her lifestyle from an extremely independent single woman to one who through time would require assistance. This can never be an easy task for anyone to try to accomplish, especially for someone similar to her. With the help of the Rosenor House, Lily made the transition from her extremely independent lifestyle, to a person who required help and she did it with grace and dignity and a beautiful smile. Rosenor House's sophisticated, advanced and compassionate care made that transition easier. Estela and Tisi, her caregivers, loved and cherished her as daughters would a mother, and she returned that love and more.

The family embraces all the love that she received from all who she loved, and hopes that her love will grow in them as they live a beautiful and fulfilled life as Lily did.

Peace and Love