Juliet Martinez

Juliet Kerr Serrano Martinez passed peacefully in her sleep on December 16 at her home in San Diego, California. Since they were very young, Juliet always told her sons that she wanted to pass in her sleep. They teased her that she had no control over that, but it seems fitting that this extremely charismatic, passionately driven woman who dreamed big and often made those dreams real, would pass exactly as she said she wanted.

Juliet’s dreams were always very big, and she often charmed everyone around her into believing in her dreams and making them happen. And about 80 percent of the time she made her dreams come true. But her dreams were always rooted in her beloved husband Gilbert and her sons, Rico, Dan, David and Eddie. When her dreams won, everyone won.

Juliet was born November 6, 1942, in Manila to Estrella Kerr and Jose Serrano. Super bright from a young age, she graduated very early at 15 from the University of Santo Tomas. She earned a full scholarship to attend University in Barcelona, Spain but her mother felt she was too young to go abroad on her own; and it’s something Juliet always regretted.

Juliet also spent her youth in Hawaii and later in Nevada and California. And it was there that she met the love of her life Gilbert Daniel Martinez, a handsome young Navy man, at a swimming pool. Gilbert would hitch hike hundreds of miles to see Juliet when he was on military leave. Juliet’s father, Thomas Naehu Kaaukai Kapela, of Hilo, Hawaii was Gilbert’s superior and known to be a tough Chief Petty Officer and paymaster.

Surprisingly, strict Thomas approved of Gilbert and allowed him to date his daughter Juliet. Eventually their romance led to marriage on September 22, 1962. And in 2017, they celebrated 55 years as husband and wife before Gilbert passed away that year. Incidentally, Gilbert also introduced Juliet’s sister Lynn, to his military best bud, Harry Seganti who became the love of Lynn’s life – and Lynn and Harry are still happily married to this day more than 56 years later. And Juliet’s youngest sister Leilani and her husband Joe Atwood just hit their 50th year of happy marriage as well.

Gilbert pitched in when Juliet’s dad Tommy Kapela was out at sea, by helping Juliet’s little sister Leilani with life lessons, like learning how to drive and changing oil in her car. He also helped his mother-in-law Estrella Kerr Kapela when she needed things done around the house. Even after Tom passed early from cancer, Estrella remained close to Juliet and her other daughters Lynn and Leilani, and Estrella even spent her final years living with Gilbert and Juliet.

Juliet loved her sons, her family, and her daughters in law whom she considered to be her daughters. She also loved her grandchildren beyond words (Bella, Naehu, Max, Kainoa, Makana, Minka, Miles and Naila) and always looked forward to spending as much time with them as possible. She always looked forward to her grandchildren’s events whether it was Hawaiian dance or ukulele performances, music recitals, sporting events, birthday parties or graduations. And on some of those very special occasions, her children and grandchildren would receive a flower lei from her; often hand made with love by Juliet herself.

For many years Juliet was active in the Roman Catholic Church along with her husband Gilbert and they volunteered their time and services for the church and rectory, working for Father Tullio and Bishop Chavez at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, and St. Charles in San Diego. She also loved to crochet, and was very prolific with many sweaters, blankets, and baby outfits as proof. It was yet one of the many ways that Juliet showed her love to her family.

Juliet was passionate about all things “beautiful” (a word she used often) from beautiful homes to people, to paintings to flowers, to music and fashion. Juliet was chic and prided herself (like her mother before her) in never stepping out unless she was very well put together, which meant makeup, hair and attire were all carefully thought out and executed. And she was always faithful to her nightly moisturizing rituals (also learned from her mother) in which she moisturized entirely from her face to her toes, and the scent of her high-end Japanese and Aveda moisturizers were the last things her children and grandchildren smelled when she kissed them good night.

Juliet also loved dancing, especially with her husband Gilbert. When they were younger, they would often stay out dancing late into the early morning. She also loved her father’s Hawaiian music and hula dancing which she adored since she was a young girl in Hawaii. She even performed a special hula for some of her son’s weddings. And Hawaiian music was what her sons often heard as she made herself up each morning along with Classical music, Mexican music, Spiritual music and pop classics like her beloved Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck as well as Spanish and French music. Piano was also another love of Juliet’s, that was passed down from her mother Estrella and which Juliet passed down to her sons, with their piano lessons as kids.

Juliet and her husband Gilbert’s house always served as a clubhouse refuge for their kids and their friends. And as their son’s friends grew older, they would often bring by their newborn kids to meet Juliet and Gilbert who served as pseudo-alternate parents for a few of them. Juliet loved her family deeply, but most importantly the love of her life, Gilbert. Both Scorpios, they were extremely passionate (possibly explaining why they ended up having four boys) and always remained deeply in love.

Beyond raising her family, Juliet was a trailblazer when it came to women in the work force. At a time when it wasn’t as common for mothers as it was today, Juliet decided to go back to work once her youngest son Eddie started school in the late 70’s. Before she had her first born son, Juliet worked at a bank (San Diego Trust and Savings) so it was only natural that she would return to the banking world.

Starting off as a teller, Juliet rose quickly through the ranks and before long she entered the world of real estate and escrow where she would excel; eventually earning the title of Vice President at Stewart Title, where she was responsible for working with attorneys on all the escrow transactions on massive deals of commercial real estate that included huge shopping malls, office buildings and skyscrapers.

Juliet was also a vanguard in empowering women and helped groom the careers of many in her all-female staff (including some of her nieces and her sons’ close friends) providing the entry point for many young women’s careers. She continued to work as an executive at a time when she was one of the few women of her ranking and eventually retired in the 90s once her sons had all graduated from college.

Her sons' earliest memories were of Juliet racing around in her stick shift BMW, avoiding or charming herself out of speeding tickets as she dropped them off at their respective schools before heading to her office. On top of raising sons and her high stress job, Juliet still managed somehow to volunteer services at church, and sometimes at the hospital to help cheer up patients as well as teach at the local community college. It was from Juliet that her sons learned how to succeed in business, and they still carry her lessons of not being afraid to push beyond your pre-conceived limits in order to not only achieve but also to surpass your goals.

Despite her last few years dealing with Alzheimers, Juliet continued to be an inspiration with her beautiful spirit which could never be completely dimmed. She was always happy to see her loved ones and greeted them with her beautiful smile and warm hugs and kisses. Because of this, the staff who looked after her towards the end of her life grew really close to her. And it came as no surprise to our family that their nick name for her was “Beautiette”.

Juliet is survived by her 4 sons and daughter-in-law’s, whom Juliet considered to be her daughters; Rico Martinez of West Hollywood, California, Dan Martinez and his wife Ilima Kam Martinez of Carlsbad, California, Dave Martinez and his wife Kristine Hayden Martinez of Laguna Niguel, California, and Eddie Martinez and his wife Christine Crisanto Martinez of Rancho Peñasquitos, California. She is also survived by her beloved 8 grandchildren, Isabella Kealoha Martinez, Naehu Jarret Martinez, Max David Martinez, Kainoa Albert Martinez, Makana Gabriela Martinez, Minka Mei Martinez, Miles Edward Martinez and Naila Leola Martinez. And many other nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews that she adored.

Although our mama will be deeply missed, we find strength knowing that her compassionate and unconditional love will always be within us in our hearts. She will show herself to us every time we express love to someone, help someone in need, or a say a kind word to lift their spirits. Or when we take the time to make them feel special, wanted, and important… and especially when we see something beautiful and inspiring.

But most of all whenever we dare to dream big - even when others don’t see it as being possible - and even more when we dare to bring those dreams to life. Juliet's exciting and inspiring big dreams and unconditional approach to loving us will live forever in our hearts.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sorrentovalleychapel.com for the Martinez family.