After a long illness, Carmen Ponce Sforzini, a native Californian and long-time resident of Los Altos, died in Alamo, CA, on December 18.
A family High Mass and graveside ceremony at Alta Mesa Cemetery were held on December 23. There will be a Memorial in early spring for family and friends to celebrate her life.
Carmen was born in Santa Clara, CA, to Spanish immigrants Frank and Mary Anaya Ponce. She grew up on her family’s fruit ranch in Cupertino, which supplied peaches, apricots and cherries to local markets and nearby canneries. Carmen graduated in 1938 from Fremont Union High School, where she met her future husband of 69 years, Harry Sforzini.
In a life spanning most of the 20th century, Carmen had many interests and accomplishments. In 1940, representing Shuckles Cannery in Sunnyvale, she was crowned “Miss Rancho Soup” at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. She was a member of the Quadalco Club and (with Harry) the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View. The couple enjoyed traveling, fishing, golf, pheasant hunting, dancing, and attending social and civic events together.
Carmen was also a seamstress, needleworker, avid 49ers fan, and cook, with two original recipes printed in Sunset Magazine. Together with Harry, she was co-owner of commercial properties in Sunnyvale and Mountain View.
She took great pride in her daughters, nieces and nephews, grand- and great- grandchildren, extended family, and friends. Carmen will be remembered for her gentle demeanor and pleasant disposition and as a helpful and caring neighbor, sharing her fruit and vegetable harvests and making quilts and clothing for neighborhood newborns.
She is survived by the families of her two beloved daughters, Sharon Sforzini and husband Steven Grant of North Bethesda, MD, as well as Charlotte Sforzini and husband Joseph Arton of Alamo, CA. Her three grandchildren and their families also join in remembering their “Mamacita”: Elliot and wife Anne Grant, of Silver Spring, MD; Dr. Heather Katz (Arton) and husband Major Joe Katz of Kapolei, HI; and Noelle Micek (Arton) and husband John Micek IV of Diablo, CA. Other family members include her six great-grandchildren, Aidan and Logan Grant, Avery and Jay Katz, and Charlotte and Jack Micek V; brother-in-law, Don Sparks; nieces and nephews Joycelyn Zucchi Dykstra, Denny Zucchi, Brian Zucchi, Sandy Sparks Waddington, Karen Sparks Lester, Maureen Ramos Deasy, and Ronald Ramos.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hope Hospice (www.HopeHospice.com).