Rosanne was California born and raised and spent most of her life in California.
Born Rosanna Carlson, she grew up initially in Arcadia, California, and a bit later Santa Rosa, California. There she lived most of her youth, and through attending Santa Rosa Junior College, where she also met her future husband. Following that she attended Washington State, and then The University of California at Berkeley as a music major in piano and voice.
She married in 1960 and started and raised her family in the the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1972 she was divorced.
Following that she went back to college for graphic design.
In 1973 she married her second husband, and by around then and henceforward went by her preferred name Rosanne. By about 1976 she was divorced again.
Soon after Rosanne was working full time, and not too long after that she was employed with the Oakland City Planning Department where she worked for many years. This was long before CAD was common. She meticulously and beautifully mapped everything by hand and masterfully handled their graphics and artwork.
In the 1980s, she and her new best friend and companion, Ray Berry, camped and explored the California coast and mountains for a couple of years, when they fell in love with Dunsmuir, a little mountain railroad town near the foot of Mount Shasta.
In 1988, about four years after having become an empty nester, Rosanne and Ray moved to the mountains they loved so dearly. She'd purchased an early 1900s home close to the Sacramento River in Dunsmuir, which she turned into a Bed & Breakfast, "Clementine's", named after the folk song. She ran "the inn", as we all affectionately called it, for many years.
From then onward, she mostly stayed in or near to that mountainous Northern California region, ranging from Weed, CA near Lake Shastina, to Chico, CA, and including having lived in three distinct locations in Dunsmuir, though she did also for about a couple years in the early 2000's move out closer to her daughter in CO. Then in 2016, she suffered a stroke, and soon after moved to CO near her daughter and stayed there the rest of her life.
In her many years before she phased into retirement and had her stroke, she did quite a variety of mostly independent entrepreneurial work, which was sometimes concurrent with her other work. E.g. paralegal, cooking, selling commissioned drawings of houses.
As an artist and music major, she also often watercolored in her later pre-stroke years/decade(s). She commonly had music playing, anything from classical and folk to Queen, to musical bells and Native American instrumentals and chants. She enjoyed cards and games, wildlife, birdwatching, movies, art and nature, and loved her pets. And, of course, the mountains, and always dearly loved her kids.
But who she was made her the most special - full of whimsy, kind, content, giving, joyful, a gentle spirit always willing to listen, a wonderful hostess cooking tasty meals and accommodating family, friends, and guests. She was resourceful, non-materialistic, spiritual, and never complained or asked for anything. She will forever be missed and adored.
Rosanne passed peacefully from this life on March 15, 2026, while residing in Fort Collins, CO, where she lived near her daughter since 2016.
Rosanne DiMaggio is survived by her son Michael Paoli, daughter Julie Kiernan, and three granddaughters: McKaila, Madisen and Emma Kiernan, and first ex-husband Richard J. Paoli. She is pre-deceased by her second ex-husband Francesco (Frank) A. DiMaggio, and long time friend and companion Raymond (Ray) L. Berry.
At least some of the remains have been buried and/or dispersed as noted:
son:
Michael Paoli
Michael.Paoli@berkeley.edu (please include "Rosanne DiMaggio" in Subject: header)
+1-510-705-2606
mailing address (USPS, generally not for other shipment means):
PO Box 11463
Berkeley, CA 94712-2436
USA
daughter:
Julie Kiernan
underneatharms@gmail.com (please include "Rosanne DiMaggio" in Subject: header)
+1-970-889-9091