Joseph Robert Panetta, 89, of Pebble Beach, died Dec. 19, 2022, and will be remembered as “a buon uomo, a good man,” according to his brother Leon Panetta. Joseph Panetta was born Aug. 2, 1933, in Sheridan, Wyoming to Carmelo and Carmelina Panetta.

The family would move to Monterey, then Carmel Valley. Joseph Panetta attended San Carlos Elementary School and Monterey High School, going on to Santa Clara University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955. He would complete law school at the university, pass the bar on the first attempt, and begin a decades-long career in law.