Anita M. Castellano
A Celebration of Life
Anita always said,
"It is what it is."
September 14, 2025
Thank you for your attendance and presence at mom's Celebration of Life Service. We are truly grateful for the words shared, songs sung, the laughter, and the tears.
The recording of mom's service is on the Service Info. page which links to CrossWalk's YouTube page. The service begins at minute 17:20.
Our deepest appreciation and thanks to...
-
CrossWalk Community Church and Pastor Dar Valencia for such kind hospitality and accommodations. They went above and beyond.
-
Ted Valenica for running tech.
-
Cindy Skinner and the Napa Valley Voices and Sing Napa Valley choirs. Such beautiful music, and we could see and hear Anita in the midst. (Thank you for your binder covers, too. Such a sweet tribute.)
-
Vonnie Castellano for reading the obituary.
-
Michelle Hock in sharing for Downtown Napa Ambassadors.
-
Danielle Parish for so much planning; food, flowers, decor, and more.
-
Reverend Susan Panttaja for her loving and caring ministry and service partnership and facilitation.
-
Tony Ruiz our good friend and mom's conversation partner (who was also our barista, making purple, Ube lattes)
-
And the incredible medical staff at Queen of the Valley hospital whose kind, compassionate, and diligent professionalism took care of mom and us so well. We are incredibly thankful for how they walked with us all the way to the end.
Most of all, we are incredibly grateful to all of you, friends, family, and colleagues of mom, who have created such a wonderful community. Here is my tribute to you.
"And it needs to be said that mom found that mutual embrace here in the Napa community. Our family had discussions about moving mom closer to where we live, down on the Peninsula, as she got older and needed more family assistance. But she wanted to stay in Napa and maintain close relationships with all of her friends and the community. And I want to let you know we are fully convinced that staying in Napa was 100% the right thing to do because you all have created such an amazingly beautiful, resilient, welcoming, and life-affirming community. You all are exactly the kind of people with whom mom could build a better world, and laugh, and sing, and love. And we are tremendously grateful to you for creating that kind of community for her."
September 12, 2025
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you for your RSVP. We are looking forward to being with you tomorrow for mom’s service. Below are some housekeeping reminders and details for the service tomorrow, Saturday, September 13 @ 10:30 a.m.
1. All information, including service updates, will be posted on this website. Any relevant information such as driving directions, schedule, and updates (like this) will be posted here.
2. If you are joining remotely, links for both YouTube and Zoom will be on the service page. (The current YouTube link may be incorrect. We’ll fix that for tomorrow.)
3. We believe over 100 people are showing up in person, a bit more than we anticipated. Please plan your travels accordingly. Doors open at 10:00 a.m. We will do our best to be prompt in starting service at 10:30 a.m.
4. NO, you do NOT need to have RSVP’d to attend. We did the RSVP for planning. We understand some people in mom’s sphere may have recently heard the news, and whether or not they RSVP’d, all are welcome.
This is my personal email address if you need to reach out to me. See you soon.
Kevin Neuner
(Anita’s son)
August 30, 2025
Dear friends and family,
The Ever Loved Page had some limitations and so this website, www.AnitaCastellano.Life, is now the home for all information and updates. If you only subscribed to the Ever Loved Page, please fill out the Google Form, as we will be using email primarily for communication. For those of you who wish to help with the service, I will send out ways in which you can contribute this coming week, through email.
We have also secured a date and location for the Celebration of Life service, and information is now posted on the Service Info. page. (Many thanks to Rev. Susan Panttaja of Napa Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and Pastor Dar Valencia of CrossWalk Community Church for their very kind assistance and hospitality!)
Also, we are still looking for photos and videos of mom, and so would you please be so kind as to share? (Instructions below). Thank you so much. We'll be in touch.
August 25, 2025
Thank you so much for your kindness, love, care, and "vida" ("life", and maybe even a little "vino", no?!) that you shared with mom. She loved you very much, and we (her children, Kevin & Karisa) are truly and profoundly grateful to you for loving mom so well.
Several of you have so kindly offered to provide support. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness. I hope the following helps.
-
Please do not send any gifts/flowers at this time. (Both of us are unable to manage any material items. We may ask for assistance with the memorial service.)
-
We are doing fine on food/support. (We have great support, especially from mom.)
-
Please FILL OUT our Google form and share with others.
-
Please SHARE photos and videos.
-
Upload to our Google form (with size limits)
-
Upload to Google Drive (requires a Google Account)
-
Email kevinneuner at gmail.com
We would truly love to get these, not just for the memorial service, but also for our own joy of seeing mom "living her life"
-
-
Please subscribe to mom's Ever Loved Page for updates. (This page was created in haste, so a more robust page with memorial services information, etc. is forthcoming.)
August 24, 2025
To all of mom's friends and family,
We are terribly sorry to share—for those of you who have not received word yet—that early Sunday morning (8/17) mom had a massive ischemic stroke in her left middle cerebral artery. She passed away at 10:45 p.m, Friday, August 22, 2025.
Because mom had so many friends, family members, and community connections that we may not know about, we want to ensure that everyone who wishes to receive communication and updates on services and how to contribute to honoring Anita's life. That's what this page and our Google Form will hopefully accomplish. We will use email and the webpage as our primary means of communication.