Angelo Zilio's Obituary
Angelo Zilio
7/4/1924 – 11/23/2010
Angelo, 86, of Miami Springs passed away Tuesday at home after a nine-month battle with cancer. Angelo was born in Detroit on the 4th of July with fireworks bursting in the air. At the start of the Great Depression, his father Antonio took Angelo, wife Caterina and daughter Teresina back to native Italy and returned to search for work. Angelo joined the Allied Resistance Movement against the occupying Nazis and Fascist Collaborators. He returned to Detroit in 1947 and married his wife, Viola, in 1956. He worked for 35 years for the largest construction company in Michigan, Darin and Armstrong, who built major auto plants and key parts of Epcot and Miami International Airport. He moved to Miami in 1998 to live near his son and granddaughters.
Angelo will always be remembered for bringing a smile to everyone he met through humor, his devotion to the Catholic faith, his concern for others, and his unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He loved his home, be it Italy, Michigan or Miami.
Heaven is getting one special angel this week.
As his family, we are grateful that God blessed us with Angelo for so long and then compassionately allowed the suffering to end. We are also thankful for the outpouring of love and support during his illness.
Angelo is survived by his wife Viola, son Paul (Mayra), grandchildren Lynette and Bernadette, sister Teresina, sister-in-law Antoinette, and nephew Michael (Marie) and their children Ben and Cathy.
The viewing will be at Van Orsdel Funeral Home, 4600 SW 8th Street, Coral Gables on Friday, Nov 26 from 2-4 and from 6-10. Funeral mass will be held at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, 4020 Curtiss Parkway, Miami Springs on Saturday at 10am, followed by burial at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery, 11411 NW 25th Street, Miami.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Angelo’s memory to either Vitas Hospice Charitable Fund or the Blessed Trinity Catholic Church Building Fund.
VAN ORSDEL CORAL GABLES.
EULOGY: 7 people here knew Angelo Zilio longer than I did.
Maybe 20 or 30 knew him before he moved to Miami at the age of 74.
So, I’d like to take a few minutes to paint a picture of who Angelo Zilio was.
It’s funny how he died two days before thanksgiving and is being buried two days after. That seems a sure sign from God that we should remember Angelo with gratitude for such wonderfully memories.
Angelo’s parents married in 1923 in Italy, 35 miles from Venice
They hopped on a boat for the US.
Angelo was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1924.
At the start of the Great Depression, Angelo’s father Antonio took Angelo, wife Caterina and daughter Teresina back to native Italy and returned to search for work.
At age 11, Angelo stood up and collapsed.
He was diagnosed with arthritis in right hip and that arthritis stayed with him for 75 years.
Angelo was 15-21 years old during WW2.
As he got older, World War 2 developed and Germany invaded.
Schools were closed and education stopped for 2 years.
Angelo joined the Allied Resistance Movement against the occupying Nazis and Fascist Collaborators and saw many friends hung and shot dead.
Due to lack of nutrition, Angelo had one kidney removed 65 years ago at the age of 23.
The war ended.
Angelo’s dad worked hard to get Angelo and the family back to Detroit in 1947.
Knowing no English, Angelo worked for a major General Contractor for 35 years.
He was passionate about his job and rose thru the ranks to become quite a high executive.
Angelo married Viola in 1956 and I was born 3 years later.
In 1963, Angelo developed an abscess in his back and was hospitalized for 43 days
By 1988, Angelo’s hip had deteriorated and he needed a hip replacement
He nearly died of blood loss.
For the first time, I heard my dad complain about pain. It turns out that he was walking around with the ball out of the socket!
6 weeks later, doctors tried to shove it back into place but that failed, so they did another hip replacement; that, too, failed.
After 15 years apart, my parents moved to Miami and became a major influence in the girl’s lives, and in ours. My dad was 74 years old.
After walking with a cane for 10 years and at the age of 75, Angelo had the same hip replaced for the 3rd time. Again, he almost died.
This one was successful and he rarely walked with a cane again
In 2004, Angelo was diagnosed with melanoma of a toe.
Doctors eventually removed the toe and thought the cancer was completely removed.
Last December, ultrasound detected 3 large lesions on his liver.
On Lincoln’s birthday, Angelo was diagnosed that the melanoma had metastasized to his liver.
This would be the last of Angelo’s endless list of health ailments too numerous to mention.
In fact, he would say that he took all of the sickness and ailments on behalf of our family, and truly the rest of us have been blessed with good health.
As my dad processed the news, he told my mom that, “this would be our best year yet”, and in many ways it was for them and for our family.
Cancer allowed all of us to appreciate and love one another.
So, how should Angelo be remembered?
Faith-
In our family, we are lifelong Catholics
No excuses for missing mass or living other than a Christian life.
Angelo attended 46 annual retreats back in Michigan.
He attended an Emmaus retreat with me in 2002.
Family-
Angelo and Viola were very different, but one union.
I’m sure the first person my dad wants to thank is my mom, who was his nurse. She often said that her job was to keep dad alive.
Viola is the rock of our family and my dad’s angel, and my angel, too.
The other person my dad would thank is Mayra. The 2 were quite different but, as Angelo got sicker and Viola wearier, Mayra prepared gourmet dinners to take to them and became close friends to both. My dad would tell Mayra to stop being so cheerful but that didn’t stop her from smiling and laughing. In fact, Mayra cared for my dad up thru the last hour of his life. Angelo would tell me how happy he was that Mayra had formed a bond with Viola as Viola did with Angelo’s mom.
Angelo taught us that there is no such thing as in-law, we’re all just family.
Unquenchable thirst to learn-
Books and papers very expensive in Italy; Americans just threw them away
Angelo picked up papers from airport seats.
He had an extensive library in the basement back in Michigan.
He clipped and saved newspaper articles till the paper became Swiss cheese
Despite living in Italy from the age of 6 to 23, he knew more English than anyone I knew.
Angelo had rabbit ears on his Webster’s unabridged dictionary.
Lynette and Bernie were afraid to ask nonno school questions because the answers were so thorough and detailed they would take an hour.
Angelo tracked all of the cafecito stands in Miami and knew all of the waitresses by name.
He tracked hurricanes in a very detailed manner.
Humor-
Most of you may remember my dad for his humor.
Often inappropriate, politically incorrect or just plain not funny, but you had to laugh anyway.
My son could use a little affection.
To his 94 years old aunt he said, “In case I forget, Happy Birthday 6 years from now.”
Griselda.
World traveler-
Dad took mom and me to 37 countries together.
So, I’ll leave you with these memories-
Dad was a caring man who loved others.
He had an unquenchable thirst to learn.
He was fearless and loved where he lived, be it Italy, Michigan or Miami Springs.
Angelo was Proud of his Italian and American Heritage and culture.
And finally, he cared deeply about his faith and his family
I asked him how he would you like to be remembered, and he said, “As a man who met others with humor and an upbeat disposition despite his health.”
In Viola’s words, Angelo had a wonderful mind trapped inside a terrible body.
In conclusion. As his family, we are grateful that God blessed us with Angelo for so long and then compassionately allowed the suffering to end. We are also thankful for the outpouring of love and support during his illness.
And if he were to give us one last bit of advice, as he always did, he might say that whatever the Lord his in store for you, give it your best and bring joy to others.
What’s your fondest memory of Angelo?
What’s a lesson you learned from Angelo?
Share a story where Angelo's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Angelo you’ll never forget.
How did Angelo make you smile?