Mr. Husberto "Gil" Feliciano

Born on February 7, 1936, in Aibonito, Puerto Rico, Gil was the beloved son of Jose’ Dolores and Juanita Martinez, husband to Mary Antonio Feliciano, and father to sons, Gilbert (Teresa), Paul (Karen), Joe, Ralph (Christy), and daughters, Linda and Mary (Trevor) Martin, and grandfather to 21 grandchildren, and 29 great grandchildren.

He grew up in PR and moved to Bronx, New York in 1946. Met his soon to be bride, Mary, in 1956 at her sweet sixteen birthday party, and never looked back. Gil and Mary were married in 1959 and soon started a family. The family moved to Knoxville in 1972, working for Business Envelope in Clinton, Tennessee. In 1977, the company relocated out of state, but the family stayed in East Tennessee. He started his next career as a maintenance engineer at Shannondale Nursing Home, until he retired in 2006. Gil grew up loving baseball in PR. Luckily all his sons enjoyed it too as they played from little league up to the Connie Mack league. Some of his fondest memories were when the Puerto Rican little league teams would travel to Knoxville for tournaments. He was a fan of many baseball teams, especially the Mets, as evidenced by his extensive baseball hat collection. He will be remembered for being a friendly person to all he met, typically with a smile on his face. He was a jokester to those he loved and often told tall tales to see what you would believe. Did you know he was related to Jose’ Feliciano?! No, not really!

He loved his time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren and typically spent time with them telling stories and laughing. Gil was a hardworking man and believed that dependability was everything. Our hearts are much sadder today, but know he is in a better place.

A visitation will be held on Friday, October 10th at 11:00 AM at Berry Highland West Funeral Home (9913 Sherrill Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37932). The burial service will begin at 1:00 PM. All are welcome to join us and wear their own baseball hat to honor him.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (https://www.stjude.org).

The family wishes to thank caregivers and staff at Parkwest Medical Center and Amedisys Hospice for their support, compassion, and excellent service.

“Ability is important in our quest for success, but dependability is critical.” ~ Zig Ziglar