Lasting Memories

Vicky Stella Pardini
May 8, 1959-March 13, 2018
Redwood Valley, California

Vicky Stella Pardini, a longtime Woodside and Redwood City resident, died on March 13 after a major stroke. She was 58 years old. Mrs. Pardini had been living with her son, Stavros Pardini, and his family at his home in Redwood Valley after the home she and her family had built themselves in Mendocino County and all their belongings were destroyed in the Redwood Valley Complex fire in October. Mrs. Pardini, her family says, loved to be surrounded by her family. "She would light up when her grandchildren were with her," according to family members. She enjoyed singing Greek songs to them; making cookies, chewing bubble gum, watching scary movies and going on shopping trips with her seven grandchildren, ranging from 11 month old twins to a 12-year-old. "She would often call just to hear their voices," family members said. "It would immediately brighten her day." Friends say that once anyone met Mrs. Pardini, they were friends forever. Toni Imbimbo, who met Vicky Pardini about 28 years ago when their sons were both preschoolers, says that "her heart was so big and simple, she just pulled you in." "She was the glue that kept everything and everyone together," Ms. Imbimbo said of her friend. "There was no such thing as a quiet moment in her life," she said. "Every minute was spent with family or gathered with friends." "Time spent with her always turned into a memory to be cherished," Ms. Imbimbo said. "From spending time with her in the kitchen just making dinner, watching 'American Idol' while knitting and crocheting, or staying up all night scrapbooking, she made the most of every moment." Mrs. Pardini's family members say that in her downtime, "which wasn't much because she was so busy trying to help everyone in her family," Mrs. Pardini enjoyed watching the soap operas "The Bold and the Beautiful," and "The Young and the Restless." Just last summer she was able to meet some of the stars of her favorite shows on a trip to Los Angeles. She also enjoyed painting rooms, porcelain dolls and ceramic houses. Relatives say she also enjoyed "doing bookkeeping, getting good deals and fighting for what she believed in and winning." Vicky Kostakis was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1959. She lived there for seven years before moving to Canada and then Daly City before the family settled in Millbrae when she was a teen. She graduated from Mills High School and received an associate's degree in accounting from Heald College, and worked much of her adult life as a bookkeeper. Mrs. Pardini kept up with a group of her classmates from Mills, organizing an annual lunch get-together for as many as 20 of them each year. Dan and Vicky met when she was 19 and he was 21, while he was working in his father's Speedo Ignition shop. When she came to pick up her car after a small repair and asked what she owed, the elder Mr. Pardini told her, "Just let my son Dan take you to lunch and we will call it even." Relatives say Mrs. Pardini always told them that "her parents wanted her to marry a nice Greek boy, so you can imagine how they felt when an Italian boy with bright red hair showed up at their door." The two were married in 1980 and would have celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary in May. Vicky and Dan Pardini had four children, including a daughter Christina who did not survive. Son Peter has Joubert Syndrome, a rare genetic disease that left him with many disabilities. The Pardini family lived in Woodside from 1989 to 2000, when they moved to Redwood City, where they owned Dan Pardini's Autobody and Fabrication. They lived there until 2015, when they moved into a home the family had spent 10 years building themselves on land in Redwood Valley. Vicky Pardini is survived by her husband Dan Pardini of Redwood Valley, California; her parents Mary and Stavros Kostakis, sister Stella and brother Chris Kostakis, all who live near Athens, Greece; her sister and brother Irene and George Kostakis from Redwood City; brother Mike Kostakis from Santa Rosa; sons Stavros (Danielle) and Peter Pardini from Redwood Valley; son Danny (Amy) from Ukiah; and seven grandchildren: Austin, Shaylee, Delilah and Savannah from Ukiah and Serafina, Persephone and Colette from Redwood Valley.