http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150708/OBITUARIES/307089996/101131/OBITUARIES Stockton, CA Gena Austin March 28, 1927 - June 23, 2015 Gena Austin passed away on June 23, peacefully in her home in Stockton, CA. She was born in Tampa, Florida on March 28, 1927 to Vengencenza Marino and Ramon Garcia. Her grandparents, Biago and Angelina Marino and their five children came from Sicily, Italy to settle in Tampa, Florida. Her mother, who had divorced Ramon, was shot and killed in the family home when Gena was 5 years old. Speaking only Italian and Spanish, she was placed in the Florida Baptist Children's Home in Arcadia Florida where she attended first through twelfth grade. In high school she was tenacious and completive in academics and sports. She was a cheer leader and on the tennis and basketball teams. Though small in stature, at only 4' 9" , she was a power house and received a basketball scholarship to South Georgia College in Alma Georgia, where she attended for two years. There she met her future husband, James Morris Lott, whom she married in 1944 and in 1945 gave birth to her daughter Sherry Gene Lott. She and her pharmacist husband owned and operated a drug store in Blackshear Georgia until his death at 33 years of age. A young woman with a daughter to raise, she continued to run the pharmacy. Gena met BOB AUSTIN (Bobby E. Austin*), who was stationed in Brunswick Georgia with the Navy. They were married in 1957 and were immediately transferred to the Alameda Naval Air Station in Alameda CA where Bob served on the USS Breckenridge ship. In 1963 they were transferred to Stockton, California, where they were introduced to baby Jeffrey Morris, whom they later adopted as their son. Gena owned and operated Draperies by Gena for 44 years, from 1970 to 2014. After Bob retired, he worked as a handyman and assisted in her business, until his death in 2003. Gena enjoyed sewing and interior decorating, dancing, tennis, slot machines, duplicate bridge, jewelry making, collecting bunny artifacts, and her many trips to Florida to visit relatives and friends. She will be remembered for her amazing energy, HUGE personality, generosity, and creative talents. She is survived by daughter, Sherry McCarthy, Alameda, CA, son Jeffrey and daughter-in-law Meredith, Tucson, AZ, grandson Garret Austin Morris, Sierra Vista, AZ, granddaughter, Jaimie Richards, Alameda, CA, nephew Steve Marino and wife Nita, Fresno, CA, sister in-law Kay Hodges, Sikeston, MO, and numerous cousins and adored family members in Florida. A memorial service will be held on July 20th, at 6:00 pm at Morris Chapel, 3601 Pacific Ave. on the University of Pacific Campus. In Gena's memory, donations may be made to the Florida Baptist Children's Homes, Residential Care, PO Box 8190, Lakeland, Florida 33802. http://www.recordnet.com/article/20030109/A_NEWS21/301099998 *Bobby Austin Electrician Bobby E. Austin, 71, of Stockton died Monday, Jan. 6, 2003, in a hospital. He was born March 14, 1931, in Cairo, Ill., and lived in Stockton for 40 years. Austin retired after serving 40 years in the Navy. He was an electrician. Survivors: wife, Gena Austin of Stockton; children, Sherry McCarthy of Alameda and Jeff Morris of Alabama; sister, Kay Hodges of Sikeston, Mo.; and a grandson. Services: — p.m. Friday, DeYoung Memorial Chapel, 601 N. California St. Visitation: 9 a.m. to — p.m. Friday. Committal: Lodi Memorial Cemetery.