Gilbert R. Amelia

July 25,1928-July 20,2011

Resident of Santa Clara

Gilbert Amelia a beloved father and grandfather passed away surrounded by his family on 07/20/2011 at the age of 82. He devoted his life to his wife, who passed away in 2006, and his family who were as deeply devoted to him. His strength , humor, and love will always be remembered. He retired from the plumber's local union 393 after more than 35 years and together with his wife raised five children with love, laughter, and a strong family bond.

We love you Dad and Grandpa (papa) and we will miss you. You will be in our hearts forever.

He is survived by three sons, Rich, Steve, and Gilbert, two daughters Debbie Garcia and Cindy Torkildson, son-in-law John Torkildson and daughter-in-laws Arlene and Donna, six grandchildren, Jason,Mike,Vickie,Brian,Aaron,and Pamela, six great-grandchildren, Derick,Jessica,Mason,Makayla,Jordon and Payton, his sisters Janet Audino and Betty Hahn and Edna Silveria, brother-inlaws John Audino and Jim Hahn and many other family members and friends.

Visitation will be held at 6PM with a Rosary at 7 pm on Tuesday 07/26/2011 at Lima Family Santa Clara 466 N. Winchester Blvd, Santa Clara the Funeral Service will be held the following day on Wednesday 07/27/2011 at 11AM

Arrangements under the direction of Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary, Santa Clara, CA.

Eulogy written by his Daughter Cindy, and read by his Son-in-law John:

Thank you for being here for my Dad today. He was a very private Man, so I would like to share a little bit about the man I knew and loved.

He was always a family man. His family meant everything to him. He loved his kids, and he had a soft spot in his heart for his Grandkids. He and my Mom kept our family very close. We did everything as a family. Sunday drives and yearly vacations.....weekend dinners out, and Friday night trips to get a comic book, then to Sears. We all got to buy something at the candy counter, and he got what he called 2 bits worth of cashews. It was a little thing, but it was everything to us.

Our Sunday drives were often to look at his latest plumbing project. We all got to look at pipes, which believe it or not was quite a thrill for us. Then when the houses were finished we went to look at the models. He was so proud of his work and loved showing it off.

He did have a temper too. Several of those Sunday drives got cut short when one of us kids would do something (usually several somethings) to set him off.

My dad was always a Union man. He worked for Local 393 for over 35 years. When he retired from plumbing, he and my mom started picking up Aaron after school every day. Friday afternoons were my mom's hair appointment, so my dad would pick up Aaron and they would take a drive to Alviso. My dad would share his memories of growing up there with Aaron, and then they would stop and buy a comic book before they went to get my mom. Those memories will always be very special to Aaron, and they have a lot do do with him becoming a union man himself.

Our yearly vacations were always Disneyland, Lake Tahoe, or Las Vegas. We would all pile into a small motel room, some of us sleeping on the floor, but we always had a great time. My Dad was very frugal, so some of our vacations consisted of driving all night, checking in, going to the amusment park, spending one night, and heading home.....usually with some kind of car trouble. On one of our trips to Disneyland the check engine light came on. All of us kids were worried the car was going to break down. We kept bugging him and bugging him to stop somewhere and get it looked at. He kept saying it's nothing don't worry. We made it to the motel, and spent the night. When we got in the car to go to the park the next morning, he had put a piece of duct tape over the light so we couldn't see it, and said "problem solved" With 5 kids to take care of, money was tight, but he made sure we always got a vacation.

Dad loved music, loved to dance, and he also loved a good joke. When he would tell a joke, his whole body got involved in it. It was so fun watching him tell it, you really didn't care if it was funny.

Because of my Dad there will always be music in my heart, and laughter in my soul.

My Dad was always there for me....I made many mistakes in my life, almost always involving men, and my Dad was there to pick up the pieces. He and my Mom drove 400 miles once to pick Aaron & me up after one of my foolish mistakes. He never let me down, he always had my back, not without some choice words of course, but there none the less.

My Dad & Mom shared almost their whole lives together, They were teenage sweethearts. The love they shared though sometimes hard to figure out, was always there.

When my Mom passed away, we didn't think my Dad would survive it. It was such a difficult time for all of us. Then a few months later we were given an angel, in the form of a baby named Mason, his great grandson. He brought my Dad back to life. When he was just an infant, I would take him to visit my Dad every day. He would hold him and smother him in kisses. He would feed him his bottle, then rock him to sleep....he poured all his love into him. As Mason got older and learned to talk, my Dad became Papa. Papa would play with him outside, and taught him how to help with yard work. Watching them always tugged at my heart.

He was the ultimate Giants fan - they were never any good,even when they were winning. He lived through the torture of getting to the playoffs, even to the World Series, only to come up short in the end. When they finally won it all last year, I thought he might burst. he was so happy he had lived to see them finally win.

The last year of my Dads life was not an easy one. Cancer took everything from him, just as it had with my Mom. As I write this I choose to let go of all the pain and suffering, and to remember the little but mighty Man who was my Dad.....the man that held a family together,through thick and thin, and always made everything better. He is at peace now, and with the love of his life....and probably getting an ear full!

He will always live in our hearts, and will always be someone we are proud to call our Dad.

We love you Dad!