Mary Louise Zuanich, 67, passed away at her home in Santa Paula, CA onJanuary 25, 2020. Diagnosedwith cancer in 2019, she died peacefully and with grace in her sleep andsurrounded by the love of her family and neighbors.Mary Lou was born on April 22, 1952 to Isadore and Dorothy Simas in SantaMaria, CA. After graduating from St. Joseph’s High School in 1970, she went onto get a B.S. from Fresno State in Recreational Therapy, and an M.A. in Educationat Cal Poly in 1980. She married Martin S. Zuanich on August 18, 1984 and had an adventurousmarriage owning and operating a RV Park in Escondido, CA and a ranch in SanLuis Obispo, CA, while also devoting herself to family. Mary Lou was passionate about gardening, singing, travel, education,and her neighborhood. She was devoted to serving her community, including costumecreation for ARC’s community theater productions, leading girl scout troops,volunteering for the CASA program, and teaching ESL and literacy. She had a zestand love for life and fostered the growth and flourishing of so many things andpeople over the course of her full life. She had a forgiving and kind heart and lookedfor the best in all things.Mary Lou is survived by her husband Martin S. Zuanich; her siblings KathySimas, Alex Simas and Richard Simas; the children of her first marriage to WesleyHamilton: Jaimey Hamilton Faris and Alexis Wolf; the children of her marriageto Martin Zuanich: Julie Strnad and Greg Zuanich; and her grandchildren Christopher,Nicole, Kari, Kylie, Ryan, M, Miles, Simon, and William. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations tocharity be made to People’s Self-Help Housing, Santa Paula Project orLivingston Memorial Hospice of Ventura County. The family will announce a private celebration of life.