Paula Ann Zappettini
Jan. 15, 1936-Dec. 7, 2011
Atherton, California

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, Dec. 13, for Paula Ann Zappettini, who died at her Atherton home Dec. 7 following a long illness. She was 75.

The Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. at the Church of the Nativity at 210 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park.

A member of a third generation Bay Area family, Ms. Zappettini was born in Piedmont, grew up in San Mateo, and graduated from Notre Dame High School. She attended San Jose State University and the San Francisco Academy of Art.

She met her husband, Bill, in 1961. The couple lived in Burlingame before moving to Atherton in 1970.

A businesswoman, homemaker, and volunteer, Ms. Zappettini was a member of the Peninsula Volunteers and the Atherton Garden Guild. She enjoyed organizing charity events throughout the years, say family members.

A devout Catholic, Ms. Zappettini and her husband were invested with high honors into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem in 1997.

In 2006, in the midst of illness, she traveled as a malade on a pilgrimage with the Order of Malta to Lourdes, France. In 2008, along with her daughter, Anna, she was invested as a Dame of Malta. In 2009, Mr. and Ms. Zappettini received the Assumpta Award from the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

In 2010, she co-founded a local chapter of the Frontline Faith Project to bring prayers and spiritual support to American military men and women.

She is survived by her husband of almost 50 years, William; children John Zappettini and Anna Zappettini; brother Robert Scribante; and two grandchildren.