Julianna Calabio

Julianna Jeanette Kahn Calabio was born April 8, 1948, to Dorothy Elberta Walter and Alfred Kahn in Elsinore, California. She was the youngest of six children: Laurence, Laura Mae, Florence Alfreda, Richard Herman, and Dorothea Pauline.

As a child, she lived with her family in Elsinore, California until her father passed away in 1963. At that point, Jo was the only child still at home, and Jo and her mother moved to Yucaipa, California. Not long after that, they moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, and Jo graduated from Grants Pass High School in 1966.

Following high school, Jo worked hard for the next few years to support herself in Oregon at various jobs and also attended college classes for a short time (some at Portland Community College in Oregon and later at College of Alameda in California). In 1969, Jo was invited to live with her brother, Richard Kahn and his wife, at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, and she moved there to work and enjoy time with family until returning to the mainland in 1970. The next year in 1971, Jo joined the Air Force herself to see the world and meet new people. Jo was first stationed in Texas, followed by time in Mississippi. After that, she was stationed in Iraklion, Crete, Greece, where big changes happened in her life.

While stationed in Greece, Jo met and became good friends with a fellow serviceman and co-worker, Sterling Calabio. Jo was inspired by Sterling to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and after much study and prayer, she asked to be baptized into the church. Sterling was honored to baptize her, and they continued to be good friends. They soon fell in love, and Jo and Sterling were married in Iraklion on February 24, 1973. When returning to Hawaii to visit family later in 1973, Jo and Sterling were sealed in the Laie, Hawaii temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for time and all eternity.

They started their family by adopting a baby boy, Jesse, in 1975. They were blessed to then have four daughters following Jesse. Leslie was born later in 1975, Nikki in 1977, Erin in 1978, and Rachel was last to be born into the family in 1982. Jo was thrilled to become a mother and loved having a big family. They also added several dogs to the family through the years that were especially loved by Jo, and she was rarely seen without the family dog near her feet while sewing.

Jo had served in the Air Force for four years and decided to be discharged in 1975 from the Air Force when stationed at Keesler AFB, Mississippi when they started having children. Jo delighted in being a mother and homemaker and loved to find fun and creative ways to spend time with and take care of their family as the family grew and moved every few years with different Air Force assignments that Sterling had. While raising their children between 1975 - 1992, the family lived on Air Force bases in Biloxi, Mississippi, RAF Chicksands, England (twice), Wheeler AFB, Hawaii, and Vandenberg AFB, California. After Sterling’s Air Force retirement, the family lived for a time in the towns of Wahiawa and Mililani, Hawaii. In the summer of 1992, the family moved permanently to Pleasant Grove, Utah where Jo and Sterling have remained since. All along the way, Jo became very involved in the community and LDS church congregations at each of their locations and was known for her outgoing, friendly nature and service to others.

While raising their family and moving around the world, Jo continued her education and earned an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Leeward Community College (through University of Hawaii) and later graduated in 1993 (finishing her degree by correspondence) from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management.

Jo worked hard throughout her life in various jobs. After she was no longer in the Air Force, she later still worked on bases in the Civil Service for over ten years. After moving to Utah, she found employment at Brigham Young University in the text department of the BYU Bookstore for almost 20 years from 1993 to 2012 before retiring. After retiring from the BYU Bookstore, Jo served a service mission at the BYU Family History Library from October 2012 to October 2015. She was excited to learn more and teach others about one of her passions, family history. She loved to share with others about her Jewish and German family history and attended many family history conferences through the years.

Along with family history, Jo enjoyed and excelled at many hobbies throughout the years and was a creator in so many ways. She enjoyed making things with crochet, sewing clothing and home decor, reupholstering furniture, making stained glass creations, quilting, oil painting, baking and cooking. Through the years, she won several cooking contests where she submitted original recipes she had perfected. She made a lot of her own clothes through the years as a young adult and later as a mother and working professional. She also sewed for her husband, children, and humanitarian causes. After discovering a passion for quilting, most painting and clothing sewing stopped over time, and she quilted almost daily for decades. One of her joys was to make baby, wedding, lap quilts, and wall hangings as gifts for family and friends through the years. Every single member of her family (children, grandchildren, and many extended family members) received one or more of her cherished quilts. Along with the many quilts, she also created and gifted many of her Calabio cookbooks, sewn bags, canned food, baked goods, paintings, and more.

Jo was also known for many things, but especially for her great love for her family, her faith in God and devotion to following the teachings of Jesus Christ. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Alfred Kahn and Dorothy Elberta Walter, and siblings Laurence Higgins, Laura Mae Higgins Hiltz, Florence Alfreda Kahn Ford, and Richard Herman Kahn.

She is survived by her husband, Sterling Calabio, and their children: Jesse Keola Ryan Calabio (Amy) of North East, Maryland; Leslie Danelle Kaleilani Calabio Pugh (Troy) of Ephrata, Washington; Nicole Janine Maile Calabio Wilcox (Daniel) of Rexburg, Idaho; Erin Noel Pualani Calabio Summerill (Daniel Colyar) of Pleasant Grove, Utah; and Rachel Marie Noelani Calabio Bennett (Jason) of St. George, Utah. She is also survived by her older sister Dorothea Kahn Gillingham and by twenty-five grandchildren, three granddaughters-in-law, and two grandsons-in-law.

A memorial service will be held on June 5, 2026, in the chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 332 East, 500 North in Pleasant Grove, Utah at 4:00 p.m. Prior to the memorial service, a family visitation will be held from 3:00 - 3:45 in the church’s cultural hall, where friends and family are invited to visit with the family before the memorial service.

Due to severe allergies in the family, they have asked that no flowers be donated. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the missionary fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or to the family’s funeral fund - venmo@erinsummerill.