Denise Lynne Matlak

Denise Lynne Matlak (Hughes)

Born September 5th, 1946

Denise had fond memories of her childhood in Old Towne Bellevue, Nebraska: playing jacks and hopscotch, climbing trees, visiting the Five and Dime, swimming at Merritt’s Beach, and getting into shenanigans with her brother, Jeffrey Hughes (wife, Mary). During her teenage years, she could often be found hanging out with her best friends: Barb, Carol, and Kay. Her high school sweetheart, Edward Matlak Jr., joined the Marines and was stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina – in 1966 they got married in a little chapel on base. The newlyweds moved to Lorain, Ohio where they started their family. Although they divorced in 1977, Denise and Ed remained close friends until his untimely death in 1979. Denise had a knack for creating special memories with her daughters, Laura (husband, Raymond Baca, Jr.) and Heather (husband, Peter Giusti); from personalized birthday cakes and hunting for the perfect Christmas tree, to building couch forts, attending local fairs and festivals, going on picnics, and exploring the East and West coastlines. She took great pride in personalizing her home and she loved to cook, bake, and can. Throughout her youth, Denise imagined what it would have been like to be a 1960s flower child in San Francisco, so during the Summer of 1983 she and her daughters moved to Santa Rosa, California. She had an everlasting appreciation of northern California, with its rocky coastline and redwood trees. During the next few decades, she worked at Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department and then Sonoma County Mental Health until she retired in 2011. In addition to working full-time, she also attended classes at Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University, graduating with honors and receiving her bachelor’s degree at 50-years-old.

Denise may have been small in stature but her passion for everything in life was mighty! She will forever be remembered for her stoic, tenaciously strong, courageous, and colorful spirit, her love of dance, admiration of nature, her mischievous sense of humor, and her way of remembering friends and family with thoughtful cards for every special occasion. She also took great pleasure in her role as Grandma (Gramma Nise, Grammy) to her three granddaughters: Emma, Leah, and Amber. While living on Knolls Drive, she became the neighborhood cat whisperer, caring for feral cats who inevitably became her spoiled housecats. Then, seven years ago, an adorable, snarky chihuahua adopted her as her human and the two were inseparable.

At home, when she wasn’t tending to her flower gardens, she would likely be sitting at her dining room table, reading the newspaper, and gazing out her picture window. Denise was an artist, a connoisseur of good food, and a master at Tsundoku (collecting books without reading them).

On August 30th, 2021 – just shy of her 75th birthday – Denise surrendered to her long-time battle with kidney disease.

Denise requested that there be no funeral. Instead of a memorial service, she hoped that family and friends would do something that brought them joy (and in classic Denise fashion, she stated, “If they have to say at work that they are going to a funeral, and then do what pleases them, all the better!”)  In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider donating to Marin Humane (Novato, CA), where she adopted her beloved Luna.

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