Josephine Marckie Saracino April 15, 1944 to April 19, 2026
“To realize that a waterfall, a blooming flower, a singing bird, a full moon, and a fruit tree, all manifest the rhythm and cycles which are not unlike ourselves, is a simple truth.”
— Josie Saracino, 1977
Beloved progressive educator, artist, gardener and writer Josephine Marckie Saracino died peacefully from complications with Alzheimer’s on April 19, 2026 after listening to excerpts of Braiding Sweetgrass, Against Breaking, The Beginning Comes After the End; the songs of Peter Paul & Mary, George Winston, and the sounds of her children’s laughter.
Born in Chicago and raised in Wilmette, Illinois to a Polish Jewish mother and an Italian Catholic father, as a child, Josie could often be seen with her two younger sisters, Izzy and Francie, in matching outfits. When she was 16, her father died from a heart attack at the dinner table. A few years later, she left home to attend Michigan State, where she met her husband, and dropped out of school to raise her son, who was born in 1963.
Josie lived in Massachusetts for the first seven years of her son’s life, before moving out to California as a divorcee in the Summer of 1971, upon the suggestion of her sister who had transferred to Stanford and resided in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Known for her uncanny ability to show up for people, from 1971 to 1975, she criss-crossed the country six times with her son, in an orange VW van listening to Simon & Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and the soundtrack of the Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music.
During these years, Josie also took her youngest sister into her home in the last months of Francie’s battle with leukemia. She died in late 1971. Shortly thereafter, her other sister, Izzy, unexpectedly drowned in a rafting accident in Pescadero. Afterwards, Josie and her son moved temporarily to Northfield, Illinois to take care of her mother, who was in her last stages of breast cancer. Her mother died in June, 1973.
Without any close surviving family left, she and her son moved to Massachusetts to be near her son’s father and grandparents. The following year, Josie and her son met Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati at La Center, in Washington, where she stayed for a few months. In 1975, she and her son moved to Guerneville, California and then the two moved to Palo Alto. Eventually, her son returned to Massachusetts to start high school, and she continued studying with Guru Nitya, before embarking on a trip to India.
In 1979 she traveled to India for the first time, taking the train from Kerala in the South, to Delhi and even further North. In 1980, on a return trip to India, she met George Eassey while at the Fernhill Gurukula in the foothills of the Western Ghats. An avid singer and hammer-dulcimer player, she impressed his rural Catholic parents and extended family. The two were married in 1981 before returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, where both her daughters were born.
In the early 80s she taught at Heffalump pre-school, before experimenting with her own curriculum in a field trip-centered day-care program called Pegasus. In 1993, Josie began teaching at one of the Bay Area’s oldest progressive institutions, Peninsula School in Menlo Park, where she taught kindergarten for over 20 years. She used to say she got her dream job at age 50. She could often be seen transporting a van full of children to parks, performances, pizza shops and ice skating rinks throughout the Bay Area, and occasionally getting in trouble for inviting drag performers to speak to her class. She became known for “tutu day” — in which she encouraged everyone to bring two cans for Second Harvest food bank and for helping to produce theatre productions of the Indian epic story called The Ramayana.
At one point, a photo of her bumper-sticker-covered van became an auction item for the school, showcasing her commitment to social justice, women’s rights, witches and whimsy. She also holds the distinction of having two songs written about her — Going Down to Josie’s House by Carolyn Cirimele (1995) and Home by Chris Stone.
Aside from teaching, she was an avid gardener with a deep appreciation for daffodils, and the abiding fellowship of friendship and community. In 2004 she moved in with her dear friend Jane Benson. Together, they shared recipes, dinners and a fierce commitment to cheering on the Stanford women’s basketball team. They could often be found screaming on the sidelines of Maples Pavilion, dancing in the kitchen, picking olallieberries, or sitting on their blue couch working on projects.
Josie had a fondness for theatre and films and enjoyed re-watching and singing along to her favorites: Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, Little Women, Hidden Figures, and Mamma Mia.
She retired at the age of 70, and traveled nationally and internationally, before moving to Bentonville, Arkansas to be closer to her grandchildren and oldest daughter. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018 and lived at Innisfree Senior Living, before moving to the Greenhouse Cottages in 2020. In 2024 she was placed under Circle of Life Hospice care. Always joyful and with a smile, in her later years, she occasionally stole carrots and cookies off of other residents’ plates, and continued to appreciate art and music.
Josie is survived by her three children, three grandchildren, and over 20 years worth of students she lovingly referred to as her “kids.” Those kids have learned how to make green lotion to heal, celebrate Día de los Muertos to grieve, and appreciate the tiny joys of a leaf, a sunset, and a nicely shaped rock.
A celebration of life will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, over the weekend of August 8, 2026. Please prepare your most outrageous purple outfit and most festive hat.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a cause close to Josie's heart — food security, women's rights, and supporting families and children (Puente, non-profit in Pescadero).
