Alicia Relles, artist whose creativity lifted friends, family and strangers, dies at 44
_fitted.jpeg "Businesswoman and artist Alicia Relles captured her own image in this photo shared by her family.")
Alicia Relles, a businesswoman and artist who expanded the online presence of Sacramento’s Relles Florist and devoted much of her creativity to uplifting family, friends and even strangers, died Aug. 9. She was 44.
Relles’ parents, Jim and Marilyn Relles, described her as artistic, free-spirited and fiercely independent, even when she was a child.
“If she had the money, she probably would have gone out on her own when she was in third grade,” Marilyn Relles said. “If there was something she wanted to do, she would ... just go for it. We all said that, even her teacher.”
The eldest of three children, Relles relished her role as the big sister to Colby Relles and to Haley Relles Burdick, who came along eight years after Relles was born. Now a mother of two, Burdick said: “I just found a card next to my son’s nightstand this morning that she drew for his third birthday. And it’s just ... so magical. I mean, it’s simple, but it’s just a piece of Alicia.”
Relles also poured herself into making and giving cards and pieces of art to her friends and their children, Burdick said. She had this whole other family outside of her birth family, Burdick said.
Friendship born in New York
Alana Chazan, Relles’ friend for 19 years, recalled meeting her back when the two worked together at a store in New York City. During a conversation, Chazan said, they discovered they had both studied at UC Santa Cruz; had both lived for a time in San Francisco after college and had both lived, albeit years apart, in the same building in New York City.
They grew so close, Chazan said, that a few years after they met, it was Relles who coordinated the marriage proposal that Chazan’s boyfriend made and Relles who spent months helping him find just the right engagement ring.
“I’ve opened a drawer in my house and just had a beautiful letter with a drawing from her in there that she just made and left for me to find,” Chazan said. “She was one of those people who would still send letters to people — not just emails, but like actual letters.”
Chazan said Relles volunteered to do all the flowers at her wedding and secretly made a huge heart out of rose petals that the couple discovered on their bed on their wedding night. For the longest time, Chazan said, she thought Relles had done these things for only her, but she just recently learned that she made those extra special efforts for a great number of her friends.
“She just has such a heart, and she didn’t look for accolades,” Chazan said. “I’m learning things about her that I didn’t even know. Like, I saw someone said that she recently brought flowers to all of the young women who had just graduated from a Planned Parenthood teen mom program or something. And, I’ve never heard about that, even though I talked to her all the time because she wouldn’t do things like that to get attention. She just did it because she had a huge, huge heart.”
Return to Northern California
Chazan said Relles had a difficult time in New York City because she was so far removed from her family and ultimately moved back to the Bay Area about 14 years ago and then to Sacramento.
Once here, Relles had worked to expand the presence of Relles Florist on social media and the web, her father said, and she would do things like take photos of bouquets and upload them online, along with the product identification codes needed to make a purchase..
Relles, whose family members have operated their floral business for about 75 years in Sacramento, had recently floated the idea of starting a subscription floral business with him, he said, and that had piqued his interest. Now, he said, he is grieving the loss of his daughter while at the same time trying to figure out how to ensure the online business she nurtured will remain healthy.
The Relleses said they do not yet know the cause of their daughter’s death but that they are hoping an autopsy will provide some answers. Relles had been in pain since a 2018 car accident, they said, and days before her death, she had been battling asthma attacks as wildfire smoke had lingered over the Sacramento Valley.
Memorial service set in Sacramento
Relles is survived by her parents, sister, brother, two nieces, a nephew and her partner Kris Coney.
A memorial service for Relles is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at The Dante Club, 2330 Fair Oaks Blvd., in Sacramento. The Dante Club has been a cultural and social club for the capital region’s Italian community since 1923, according to a club history. Relles took pride in her Italian heritage, serving as a member of The Dante Club Auxiliary, her family and friends said.
For those who wish to send flowers, the family suggested they be sent to the convalescent home of the sender’s choice.
Those who wish to make a donation in memory of Relles can send them to Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors United charity for homeless LGBT+ youth, the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or another charity of your choice.
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
