Tiziano Dalla Gasperina

Tiziano ‘Tiz’ Dalla Gasperina was born in Feltre, Italy on March 21, 1953. He is the eldest son of Victor and Bruna’s four children: Tiziano, Graziano, Lucio and Marco. Tiz spent the early years of his childhood in Feltre until age 7 when his family immigrated to the U.S. in 1960. They put down roots in Southeast Portland, Oregon where much of the family still lives today.

Upon arriving in Portland, Victor worked at Mt. Calvary Cemetery digging graves. After 10 years at Mt. Calvary he started working as the custodian at Central Catholic High School alongside Bruna. During this time, Tiz and his brothers attended St. Stephens Elementary School. Graziano, Lucio and Marco went on to attend Central Catholic, while Tiz took a different path.

Tiz decided to live and study at Mt. Angel Abbey in 1966 at age 13 where he had aspirations to join the priesthood. He studied there for 6 years making lifelong friends along the way. Tiz fondly recalled the time he spent at Mt. Angel and was grateful for the education he received. He left Mt. Angel fluent in 4 languages, but more importantly he fostered his own mantra that “there is nothing man made that we can't understand or fix.” This mantra set him up for a life full of self education and a drive to solve any problem that came his way. 

Meeting Jody in the fall of 1971 would change the course of Tiz’s life forever. He left the seminary in 1972 to pursue a future with Jody. He continued for a few years at Portland State University, but eventually lost interest. In the few years after leaving the seminary, Tiz worked with his father Victor as a welder and machinist. As the personal computer gained mainstream adoption, Tiz found his true calling. Tiz started T M Computer Systems in 1977, where he kept busy his entire career. While T M Computers primarily served small, local businesses, schools and parishes, Tiz also got to assist the FBI in a handful of high profile cases - including the Montana Freeman Case, where he became a trusted confidant to the Montana Freeman and helped the FBI gather and interpret their data inevitably leading to their prosecution.

Tiz and Jody were Married on May 1st 1982. In the early years of their marriage, Tiz was running his own company and Jody was working as a futures broker at Geldermann. They established themselves in SE Portland where they have lived ever since. In 1990 they purchased a commercial building on 49th & Division to house their businesses – Tiz couldn’t have been more excited while Jody cried and was sure it was the biggest mistake they’d ever made. The roof leaked and the only toilet in the building didn’t flush, but it was all they could afford. Fast forward 30 years and that building is now home, not only to Tiz & Jody’s company’s, but to their son Gino’s company and 3 other businesses as well. Jody and Tiz worked tirelessly to improve their community, doing everything from being on the Richmond neighborhood board to planting the majority of the trees in the neighborhood. They never imagined that Division would turn into the thriving district it is today, much of which is thanks to their hard work.

In July 1987, Tiz and Jody were blessed with the birth of their son Gino. Gino’s younger years were spent among family and friends. Tiz, Jody and Gino traveled to many places together, including Tiz’s home town of Celarda, France, Switzerland, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada, not to mention their many road trips. While Gino attended St. Ignatius, both Tiz and Jody were very involved by attending class field trips, sporting events, serving on the board and donating countless hours to set up the school’s first computer lab.

Throughout his life, Tiz has always been known as a jack of all trades. From solving IT issues to building his own shop and ADU in the backyard, there really wasn’t much he could not do. Tiz spent his free time helping anyone and everyone who needed him, as all the neighbors & family members can attest to. Tiz was endlessly selfless and caring, always thinking of ways he could help others or improve their life in some way. One of his favorite pastimes was taking photos. He rarely left the house without his camera and you could always count on Tiz to document any occasion. 

One of the last documents Tiz wrote perfectly summed up his life. This was a portion of his advanced directive which asked three questions about the values he cared most about:

If I am having a really good day, I would be doing the following:

Fixing something

What matters most to me:

Happy people

Life would no longer be worth living if I were not able to:

Fix something for happy people

Tiz was an amazing husband, father, son, brother, uncle, friend, neighbor, and community member. His contributions to our lives will never be forgotten and he will be missed greatly.

Tiz is survived by his wife Jody; son Gino and daughter-in-law Carly; his mother Bruna; his brother’s Lucio and Marco and sisters-in-law Constance, Marta and Ann. Tiz’s father Victor and brother Graziano preceded him in death.

Unfortunately, we have been asked to cancel the service due to the coronavirus.  We will be hosting a large public celebration of his life at a later time.

In lieu of flowers being sent to the family or the funeral/reception, we ask that people send remembrances to either Mt. Angel Abbey https://www.mountangelabbey.org/giving/make-a-gift/ or Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary https://www.snjmusontario.org/support-us/give-now

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