Palma Joyce (Joey) Tessaro

It is with much sadness but also gratitude for a life well lived. That we announce the recent death on April 25, 2023 in Victoria BC, of Palma Joyce “Joey” Tessaro,

Joey, as Palma was affectionately called, was born in Sumas, Washington USA. The family moved to the Abbotsford area where she had a happy childhood with her siblings, Gloria, Marie, Harold, Ted and Frances during this time. Life was tough, but this gave Joey her strong personality which stood her in good stead. In her later years she often mentioned that she was no cry-baby, and that you had to look after yourself.

Joey never married, but was a vibrant and much-loved member of the Tessaro family. Left to remember her are her nephews and nieces in the USA and her great nephews and great nieces in Canada along with her many friends.

Joey grew up loving animals and spent many hours with the animals on the farm and especially in the barn with the cats. She in some ways was a cat lady, having nine cats at one time.

Once Joey graduated from school, she got a job with Air Canada and this allowed her to travel extensively around the world with job locations occurring in Seattle, the Cayman Islands, and the Caribbean. Joey in her travels was able to meet the Pope in person and explore the private areas under the Vatican. It was with the knowledge gained from these overseas experiences that she was able to refine her career. She was fortunate to visit Russia via the Trans Siberian railway.

She had many great stories about helping the passengers. It was not unusual for large bouquets of flowers to arrive for her at work as a thank you for her help. Joey was also an enthusiastic member of the Victoria Marching Band, which gracefully took part in the annual Victoria May Day parades.

On retirement, Joey took up a volunteer position at the Fairfield community police station, where she became an extremely important part of the program, Seniors calling Seniors. She was able to detect that the person she was talking to was having a problematic time. She gave this information to her station officer for investigation and on four occasions this led to critical interventions. On leaving the Fairfield Community Police Station, she went downtown to the main Victoria Police Station and served there as a volunteer for many years.

Joey had two great loves. One was her cats and the other her garden. Her garden was featured in the Canadian Gardening magazine, and she received many compliments from people who passed by on May Street. Her cats all had names matching their personalities, and Joey loved everyone of them deeply. She always made sure that they lived as long as possible.

Joey was a delight to be around. She had a very strong character but was gifted with the intelligence to support it. She loved her family and friends unconditionally; she is dearly missed but very fondly remembered.

A Funeral Mass will take place at St. Patrick’s Church, 2060 Haultain Street, Victoria, BC, on Friday, June 2nd, 2023 at 12:10pm, with Rev. Fr. William Hahn, Celebrant.

If friends so desire, please make a donation in Joey’s name to the Victoria Cat Rescue Corps Society, P.O. Box 5478 LCD 9, Victoria, BC V8R 6S4.

Condolences may be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com