Josefina Saldaña-Gaffoglio selected her jewelry with care, often making sentimental choices, like the gold cross she wore last year to a baby shower for her first grandchild.
The cross was a gift in 1992 from her husband on their son’s 10th birthday, a milestone she said wouldn’t have happened without Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
After Saldaña-Gaffoglio’s sudden death earlier this year, her son and daughter-in-law sold the necklace, along with her entire jewelry collection. On Wednesday, which would have been her 74th birthday, Eric Gaffoglio and Maryam Pakdelan-Gaffoglio presented a $10,000 check to CHOC from the proceeds.