A first-generation Italian American, Anna Maria Pierini always felt her most fulfilling blessing was to be an Italian born in America.  She was born in 1949, in Reno Nevada, to Pete and Maria Pierini, natives of Lucca, Italy who kept the Italian language and cultures strong in the home.

Anna Maria’s youth was spent between Carson City, NV, Lake Tahoe, CA and Italy.  At age 4, she flew on Pan Am airlines for her first trip to Italy.  She attended St. Theresa of Avila Catholic School (’63) and Carson City High School (’67). She moved to San Rafael, CA, to attend Dominican College (BA ’71), where she resided until her death at home, from a complex cancer complicated by a stroke, surrounded by her life-long friends on November 19, 2020.