Anthony Espinoza

Anthony "Tony" L. Espinoza, age 45, formerly of Portland, OR was called home to join his dad, Jerry, on Monday, January 18, 2016. He attended Jefferson High School and was a full time college student, working toward his degree in Nutrition. He was a carpenter by trade, and he also had a career that included him being a trusted employee installing retaining rock walls. He was a community volunteer for places including Habitat for Humanity in Clark County and a local fresh produce market in Portland. Tony’s talents were many, including a wonderful sense of humor, great singing voice, and a huge heart. He is a beloved son, nephew, brother, dad, godfather, grandpa, uncle, cousin, and friend – our earthly guardian angel. He enjoyed celebrating, camping, and traveling with family and friends. Survived by his parents – mom Linda and step dad Norm; eight siblings – Timothy, Christina, Ralph, Sherri, Jason, Jennifer, Teri, and Jaime; daughters – Ciera, Ariana, and Salicia; grandson Kyler and granddaughter Ailani on the way; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, family and friends. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM Saturday, January 30, 2016 and viewing at 12 noon, which will take place at Crosspointe Baptist church, 9810 NE 76th St, Vancouver, WA 98662, with Pastor Jim Fitzpatrick officiating. Private interment will be in Skyline Memorial Gardens. The family would like to express their gratitude for the wonderful help and care given by all extended family and friends. If desired, family and friends may make memorial contributions to Tony’s Go Fund Me account at https://www.gofundme.com/cajyt57g

Too Sweet, Gone Too Soon

As a son:

Born to Linda and Jerry, in Portland, Oregon. He was their 3rd and last child. Later in life he gained a wonderful step dad Norm, whom he lovingly called dad. His world revolved around his mom, he was definitely a mama’s boy and was proud of it. He was a handful growing up - forever energetic and rambunctious, never wanting to wear a stitch of clothing when he was young. Some would say this was a theme throughout his life, as he loved to show off

his backside, to cause shock and awe with a laugh. Mom remembers her favorite sayings when he was young, “fweep to me mommy, fweep to me” when he wanted her to sleep with him, and his favorite food was pickles, but he would call them “kick-ohs”

As a nephew:

Tony was loved by his aunties and uncles. He was a nephew to many - and it took a long time for us to figure out how all of them were connected, because we called all our elders aunty and uncle (extended family, friends of the family, etc). One aunt lovingly shared her thought that she always appreciated his sharp wit which always drew laughter by all around him. He was intelligent, loving, had a charming smile, and was very caring; always sensitive to others’ needs. It was easy for him to make friends due to his complete acceptance of all.

As a brother:

As life happens, Tony would be one of nine siblings - Tim, Christina, Ralph, Sherri, Jason, Tony, Jen, Teri, and Jaime (step, half, whole - it didn’t matter, they were all sisters and brothers to him). Our baby brother Tony was sweet and very rarely let anything bother him. He always wanted to see us laugh, and wanted us to be ok. As long as nobody bothered or hurt us, he was happy. He was that way with everyone - he was introduced many times as our BIG, baby brother. The “running” joke for Tony, is that whenever mom got him a new pair of shoes - he would make us time him as he ran around the block, because he thought his new shoes would make him run faster!

As a father:

While he was an amazing brother to us, he was an amazing father to his beautiful children. He never seemed to mind when the kids got loud and crazy, after all he was a big kid at heart. Tony loved being a father to his daughters Ciera, Ariana, and Salicia - they were his pride and joy. The daughters said that he always knew how to lighten up us kids’ days even on our worst ones, by cracking jokes or just showing that smile on his face. He wasn't just a dad, he was his little girls’ hero, the one person you could tell anything to and he would listen and then give you the best advice. He gave us life and definitely showed us how to live it. He was the best, we remembered how we begged him for a puppy, but mama and he said “no” and he put his foot down!! However, being the soft hearted daddy he was, he surprised us with our first puppy - Sadie! He had to make his girls happy and see that they were always having a great time. He did have his mischievous side too, I remember when we were watching a scary movie and daddy banged on the window and we all started crying, or the time one of us girls brought a boy home to meet him for the first time….ooh we’ll just leave it at that - he loved his girls and wanted these young boys to know it. He was just the best father a daughter could ever ask for!

As a grandfather:

Later in life, he became a grandfather in July of 2013 to a baby boy named Kyler. Oh how he loved him. He was also expecting a granddaughter in April of 2016, to a baby girl named Ailani. He was so excited when he found out he was going to get to be grandpa again and how he would have one of each, a boy and a girl.

As an uncle:

Biologically, he had 11 nieces and nephews; Timmy, Stacey, Nicholas, Megan, Kiana, Delano, Miranda, Gabby, Naomi, Ally, and Jasmine; however, he had many more through step sibling and sibling marriages. He loved kids and took any young kid under his arms, blood or not. He was there to guide and protect them, the best he knew how. When he would meet these kids as older teens or young adults, he would hand them “FUN” cards to have fun in life (He would take a piece of paper and write the word FUN on it and say, this is your permission to have fun in life).

As a godfather: There were Samuel Nelson and Justin Brent Eagle Cleveland for whom he thought of throughout their lives and hoped nothing but the best for them. Samuel shared that Tony would check in on me periodically, throughout my life, to ensure I knew that he was still around and always there for me if I needed him.

As a cousin: Family was big, especially his Espinoza Family. A world of cousins galore (over 40 first cousins) and memories of times at Grandma and Grandpa Espinoza’s house, raising havoc. Tony was always making us laugh with some funny face, or a silly noise from something he saw on cartoons or even a joke. He would get us in trouble around the dinner table by making us laugh, and Grandpa threatening us with his belt; yet Grandma always provided a way out, by telling us to take turns going to the bathroom and then laugh it all out there, then come back to eat. As a cousin, he not only kept us laughing at every family gathering and/ or night out together; he was our protector as well. He made it his business to know if we were ok or not. Checking in time to time just to say hi, how we were doing and he always had a warm hug and kiss to let you know he loved you, and always offering his kind wisdom of how to look at things in a positive way. Even though, he was tough when he had to be, he was also the biggest teddy bear. Tony was more than a cousin, he was a brother to us all.

As a friend:

Anyone could tell you that Tony was a magnet for friends - 24/7. His spunk, laughter, generosity, and kind heart was a glowing light to many - he gathered friends over the years by the masses. You knew you were “in” the friend/family category when he started joking with you, and lovingly making fun of you in the funniest, kindest way - it was to make you smile and teach us to not take ourselves too seriously. Mom always said, anywhere they were, he

would always know someone - no matter where they went.

As a man:

Tony was on a mission to change his life drastically for himself, grandbabies, children and family. He turned away from the problem areas in life, made changes to himself, and started going to college; he wanted to live life to the fullest for himself and his family. Once he started to put his energies into college, his thirst for knowledge grew - he changed his major to Nutrition, because true to his nature, he wanted to help others. This was personal for him, since he learned how to cure himself, through diet, as he won his battle against diabetes - he was so happy about this, and couldn’t wait to help others be successful in his newly chosen profession. His passion for nutrition carried over into his cooking great, healthy meals that burst with flavor - he created meals like they were masterpieces. He also loved creating art through drawing and painting, and found it to be his stress release, and he was good at this too. Tony was always about family and friends, and you knew he accepted you as you were.

That smile, that laugh, will always be forever etched in our minds and on our hearts -

WE LOVE YOU Tony!!!

Until we meet again