Obituaries

Our Best Friend, Our Mom Regina was born to James J. and Harriet A. Dahl in Oakland CA. They moved to San Leandro. She graduated from San Leandro High at 16, and graduated from Cal Berkeley at 20. She took a job for Kaiser Steel Co in Oakland as an Accountant, which she excelled at. At St Mary’s Church dance club in SF she met Eugene LePiane, a former air force officer and electrician for NASA and they were married on April 18, 1953. In 1958 the young couple moved to Fremont CA to start a family. Our mom loved the wide open spaces and farming fields of a young Fremont. When her first child was born she decided to leave her successful accounting job to raise a family. 2 more children would follow over the years. She went to work at Capwells Dept. Store when it opened in Fremont in 1968, which she enjoyed. She loved her coworkers, many fun stories, and remained there for 25 years, retiring in 1993. Our mom ’dedicated’ her life to her children, always there to comfort, teach and inspire us. Whether it was camping at Feather River Camp in Quincy CA, hiking Mission Peak, biking Alameda Creek Trail or simply taking a picnic, mom was most happy when it involved her children being with her. Our mom also became a 'favorite mom' to our school friends too as she was famous for her home baked cookies and pies from scratch. Two of her passions were her 'expert' gardening in the yard and listening to her opera. We would consecutively spend a week every summer for 30 years at our favorite cabin in Strawberry CA (Tuolumne County). Mom loved the mountains, especially the Sierras. In her later years following a devastating stroke in Oct 2008, she inspired us all by her determination to trudge on and not let the physical and speech barriers of that stroke keep her from walking. She pushed on and was inseparable from her walker. She faced many other health issues, yet always soldiered on, mostly to be around for us kids. But it was to be her final 2 year battle with breast cancer that would prove to be her hardest. Even in her last days mom would ask us to join her in the backyard. Mom passed away in the early morning of Oct 5 2017, her 3 kids by her bedside. She is predeceased by her parents James J and Harriet Dahl, brothers Jim Jr, Ken and Ron, and husband Eugene. She is survived by her daughter Christina, and sons Andre and Loren, all of Fremont.