Garneij, Gladys Marilyn born February 28, 1934 passed away November 30, 2013 at the age of 79. She died peacefully at her loving daughter's home in Irvine, CA of natural causes. She had recently been diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis (narrow heart valve). Gladys, who was commonly known as "Marilyn" or "Ginger," joins her beloved husband of 33 years, N.R. Lennart Garneij, who passed away in 1996, and her son Kip Garneij who died as a child in 1973. She is also predeceased by her parents Valentino and Rose Gambonini, sister Elsie Keeton, and brother Charles Gambonini. She is survived by her daughter Noel Garneij Vasin, son-in-law Michael Vasin, grandsons, Alexander and Dominic Vasin, sister Iside Menadier, and several nieces and nephews.

Gladys was born in Petaluma, CA, the third of four children of Valentino and Rose Gambonini, who came to America from Switzerland. They bought a ranch and had a successful dairy business. Gladys grew up on the farm with her two older sisters and younger brother. After graduating from Petaluma High School in 1952 she moved to San Francisco, where she lived with roommates and held various administrative jobs during her twenties, the longest of which was Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). During that time she met and married "Len" Garneij of Stockholm, Sweden in 1963. She resigned from SP to give birth to her first son, Kip, and a few years later, her daughter Noel, who would become an only child after Kip died of leukemia at the age of 7. The Garneij family lived in the Marina District of San Francisco, and Gladys remained a homemaker until Noel went away to college in 1988. Gladys then moved to the Richmond District of San Francisco and became employed with the Department of Veteran's Affairs, VA Hospital, where she worked for 10 years. During that time she became a widow, retired from the VA, and moved to Huntington Beach, CA in 1999 where she would start the next phase of her life in Southern California.

Gladys loved Huntington Beach and Orange County. She loved the nice weather and palm trees, and enjoyed walking the HB Pier, shopping, and being near Noel and her husband when they bought their first home in Costa Mesa, CA. Before Noel had children, the two best friends loved to travel together. They enjoyed a trip to Europe, cruises to Mexico and the Caribbean, and other fun vacations to Hawaii and Mexico. Gladys loved spending time with her daughter Noel, who later settled in Irvine, and watching her two grandsons, Alex and Dominic, grow to the ages of 9 and 7. The last two months of her life were spent in the loving care and home of Noel and her family, preparing for an anticipated open heart surgery, which turned out to not be in God's plan. She died before the surgery was scheduled.

Funeral services will be held December 14, 2013 at St. John Neumann Church in Irvine at 10:00AM followed by a Celebration of Life at the Vasin home. In lieu of flowers, please give to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A private interment will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, CA