Sharon Joyce Barreto

Sharon Barreto passed away peacefully on Thursday, December 8, 2022, at the age of 82. She was born in Visalia, California to Joseph and Mary Costa and raised in Woodville in rural Tulare County. She attended grammar school at both Surprise School and Cherry Avenue School. As a young girl, her grandfather, Jim Costa, took her via rail to visit family in Portland, Oregon. While there, they visited the famed rose garden where her lifelong love of roses bloomed. After graduating from Tulare Union High School, she attended College of the Sequoias where she received an Associate of Arts Degree. She was active in the theater program at the college and appeared as a haram dancer in their production of "The King and I". She was involved in the Sons of Italy Lodge of Tulare and served as one of their queens. She recently received her 68 year membership pin from the lodge. After graduation, Sharon worked as a secretary for Tipton Elementary School. She then went on to work as a secretary at a finance company in Tulare. It was a short walk from her office to the lunch counter on Tulare Avenue where she would have enchiladas with toast, the specialty of the house. In 1965 she met her future husband, Gilbert Barreto on one of her family's many vacations to Pismo Beach. Gilbert and Sharon were married on April 22, 1967, in Tulare. They lived in an upstairs apartment in the town of Hanford and she worked as a substitute teacher while their family home was being built on the family farm. Sharon then became a homemaker and devoted her life to raising and caring for her family. She had a son, Michael, born the day before her 30th birthday and a daughter, Alaine, born three years later. She would help at her children's grammar school, Delta View, as a substitute secretary, member of the PTA and as a 4-H advisor. As their children moved onto high school, she became an active member of the Future Farmers of America Parent's Club. In 1995 Gilbert and Sharon purchased a vacation home in Pismo Beach for them to enjoy in their later years. Around this time Alaine and her husband Billy had their children, Darian, and Blake, whom Sharon doted on like any grandmother would. Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and successfully fought the disease. Sharon enjoyed arts and crafts, especially painting, as well as playing cards. But above all she loved socializing with her friends and family. Sharon was preceded in death by her father Joseph "Joe" Costa and mother Mary Grace Costa. She is survived by her husband Gilbert, her son Michael and his wife Joey, her daughter Alaine and her husband Billy, her grandchildren Darian and Blake, and her brother James Costa and his wife Linda and family. Services for Sharon will be held on December 22, 2022, at Immaculate Heart Catholic Church in Hanford. There will be a praying of the Rosary at 11:30am with a funeral mass at 12:00. Immediately following the church service a graveside ceremony will be held at Calvary Cemetery also in Hanford. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the American Heart Association or one of your favorite charities in Sharon's name Services have been entrusted to Salser & Dillard Funeral Chapel. Memorial Tributes and condolences may be offered by logging onto www.salseranddillard.com.

Sharon Joyce Barreto

November 20, 1940 - December 8, 2022