Julius Beretta Obituary

Julius C. Beretta
December 13, 1943 – October 21, 2025

Julius Charles Beretta, 81, of San Diego, California, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025. He was surrounded by his loving family and supported by the extended circle of friends Julius gathered over the course of his life-from retired agents who served alongside him in law enforcement to the community that knew him from his hours at the gym during retirement. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Julius lived a life defined by integrity, service, and loyalty. His generosity touched all who knew him.

Born in Bedford, Indiana, on December 13, 1943, Julius was the third of four children born to Julius and Leronia Beretta. Younger brother to Iris and Martha, and older brother to his fraternal twin, Joseph, Julius was named in honor of his father and his paternal grandfather, Giulio, who emigrated from Carrara, Italy. He attended St. Vincent's Catholic School and graduated from Bedford High School in 1961.

Weeks after graduation, Julius and his brother Joe left Bedford and drove across the country to live with their sister Martha in Vallejo, California, where they began a new chapter in their lives. Julius enrolled at Vallejo Junior College, where he met Donna Bentz, the daughter of Harry and Geneva Bentz, whom he later married at St. Catherine of Siena Church on February 12, 1966.

After earning a B.A. in Criminal Justice from San Jose State University in 1966, Julius began his long career in law enforcement as an agent with the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. In October 1968, he was sworn in as a U.S. Federal Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (originally the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) and assigned to the San Francisco Field Division, where he distinguished himself in undercover work, earning the nickname "Barracuda."

Over the course of more than 27 years of service with the DEA, Julius was admired for his professionalism, courage, and relentless commitment to justice. He held key leadership posts, including Resident Agent in Charge in Sacramento and Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Dallas. He later served as Special Agent in Charge in San Diego, as well as in several assignments at DEA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was Chief of Domestic Enforcement Operations. During his distinguished career from 1968 to 1996, he received numerous awards for exceptional performance and special achievement. But he was most comfortable among the agents and colleagues with whom he shared a lifelong bond, and who remembered him as a man who led by example-with humility, loyalty, and an unwavering moral compass.

Julius raised a family with his wife, Donna, with whom he had three children: Julius Christian in 1968 and Nicholas Charles in 1970, while the family lived in Concord, CA; and Annemarie in 1979, while living in Rocklin, CA. As a parent, where Donna provided consistency and managed the household, Julius's high expectations for school and sports were balanced by a love that knew no bounds-and a tendency to spoil them on occasion. Their lives were shaped by his career and moves that criss-crossed the country, from California to Virginia to Texas to California again.

Each of his children reflect Julius's love and influence in an unmistakable way. Chris inherited not only his father's name but also his tenacity and devotion to faith and education as a Catholic priest and school leader for more than 30 years, finding his greatest joy in building bonds of community and brotherhood for his students. Nick followed in his dad's footsteps as a federal agent with the DEA, serving more than 27 years (and counting) with the same quiet generosity and strength of character, as he and his wife Lisa raised three children-Dominic, Isabella, and Gabriel. And Annemarie, the youngest and Dad's undisputed favorite who always brought out his softer side, inherited his love of family and fierce integrity. For almost 25 years, she has shaped young lives as a high school teacher, sharing the same warmth and strength her father showed at home with her husband Brad and their children, Donnamarie and Calvin.

A defining moment of Julius's life was the loss of his wife, Donna, in a tragic car accident in 1991. From the time the college kid from a small town in Indiana met her in Vallejo, their lives and 25 years of marriage, and the family they built together, defined his life and legacy. Losing Donna, especially with his adult sons far from home, shook him to the core and forced him to reinvent his life and career as a single parent, forming a special bond with his daughter that continued throughout his life.

He remarried Jeanne O'Keefe in 1993, who herself has served the federal government for 40 years, most in the DEA as an intelligence analyst. Her arrival in his life brought not only love and companionship for Julius, but also stability and compassion to the entire family at their hour of greatest need. Jeanne and Julius were best friends for 32 years of marriage. Together, they began a new chapter that included his retirement from his life as an agent with the DEA in 1996, leaving behind the work that had defined him for so many years and embracing a new role as a doting grandfather.

Julius was committed to justice and worked hard throughout his career in law enforcement, but was never one to splurge on fancy vacations or travel. Instead, he loved nothing more than being with family. In his earlier years with Donna, that meant holidays and countless memories in Vallejo with siblings, nieces, nephews, and in-laws; in later years, it meant being with Jeanne at home, gathering his kids and grandkids around his own dinner table.

He found his greatest joy in family time, lively conversation, and relentless teasing and laughter with those he loved most. His passion and drive found a new outlet in the gym at the Rancho Bernardo Swim and Tennis Club, where his long daily visits included plenty of exercise and an ever-growing circle of friends. He was proud of his Italian heritage, often passing off a few phrases for fluency, and guarded the family sauce recipe closely-one he believed he had perfected. Over the course of his life, he grew in his Catholic faith and his devotion to the Blessed Mother. A lifelong fan of Notre Dame football, he passed his passion on to his sons, who last week watched by his side in the hospital as the Irish earned a final win for Julius against USC.

In his last three weeks, Julius suffered from a serious blood infection that led to a series of strokes. During his hospitalization, his fighting spirit and love for his family were as evident as ever. In the end, he was surrounded by those he loved most who rushed to be with him, never left his side, and took turns to ensure he was never alone. He was cared for, prayed with, and anointed with the same devotion and love he had lavished so generously on them throughout his life.

Julius passed peacefully on October 21 as his boys, Chris and Nick, sat beside him, sharing a late dinner, laughing, and telling stories. An ordinary family moment he would have cherished in this life thus gently ushered him into eternity. He is now reunited with Donna after 34 years apart, waiting, no doubt somewhat impatiently, for the rest of us to join him once again and forever. Until then, the family draws strength and hope at this time from his enduring love and devotion from above, expressed in the words of St. Francis de Sales, who wrote: "Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off."

Julius was predeceased by his parents; his sisters Iris (and Homer) Niflis and Martha (and Jay) Webster; his sister-in-law, Pam Beretta; and his beloved wife, Donna Beretta.

He is survived by his brother, Joseph; his devoted wife, Jeanne O'Keefe Beretta; his children, Julius Christian Beretta, Nicholas Charles Beretta (Lisa), and Annemarie Talmadge (Brad); and five grandchildren who brought him great joy-Julius Dominic, Isabella Nicole, and Gabriel Christian Beretta, and Donnamarie and Calvin Beretta Talmadge.

Visitation and viewing will be held on Monday, October 27, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Poway-Bernardo Mortuary in Poway, California. A brief vigil service will begin at 7:00 p.m. to conclude the viewing.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, October 28, at 10:30 a.m. at San Rafael Catholic Church in Rancho Bernardo, with a reception and lunch to follow in the Parish Hall.

Burial will be in private at Dearborn Cemetery in Poway, where the family will lay him to rest with Donna in the grave he visited and tended so faithfully over the years.

In lieu of flowers, and to honor Julius's lifelong commitment to the DEA, the family requests that donations be made either to the Kiki Camarena Foundation, https://camarenafoundation.org/ or the DEA Survivors Fund, https://survivorsbenefitfund.org/

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.