Ann Ayleen Foley

Ann Ayleen Foley of Sonoma, CA, passed away on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at Vineyard Post Acute in Petaluma CA.

Ann was born in Watertown, SD, to Willard (Bill) and Ayleen (Murphy) Foley on April 21, 1940. She graduated from Watertown High School and graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado. She went on to get further education in business and real estate.

She spent most of her adult life in the San Francisco and Sonoma, CA area. While in San Francisco Ann answered an ad from Bank of America wanting someone to live for a month on a Bank of America credit card without spending a dime in cash. All she had was 50 cents in her pocket to call for help if she needed it. The banks’ idea was to test the versatility of its credit card. She had many adventures using her own ingenuity. This was in 1965.

Before settling down primarily in real estate in Sonoma and becoming a mother, she had many other jobs…”Girl Friday”, working for the Japanese Travel Bureau, and teaching at a nursery school. She is preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her son Adrian/Tony (Alicia) Foley of Bali, Indonesia; a daughter, Kristin Heinrichs of Tucson, AZ; her true guardian angel on this earth-Nelson Silva of Sonoma, CA; her sister, Kate, and brother-in-law, José (Pepe) Michieli of Tucson, AZ; and her niece, Angela, her nephews, Alan (MiJeong) and Charley (Abby) Michieli, and 2 grand nephews, Andrew and Colin, and one grand niece, Keira. She is also survived by her special friends who held her up over the many years, especially durning her years in long term care: Diane Weaver, Bill Clinton, Sandra Stout, Bette Herman. There were many more dear, dear friends that she loved. Ann was an intelligent, kind, generous, and fun loving soul. She handled her life in long term care for over 4 plus years with grace and humor. We share this news with sadness, as we will miss her terribly, but with great joy that she is now free and on to her place in the heavens. Memorial plans are pending.

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