Norman Narciso Pellizzon, age 92, died Thursday September 13 in Mission Viejo at peace with life and eager to join his beloved wife Eugenia in heaven. Norman was a proud man of integrity, honesty and hard work. He measured his life in how he provided for his family and how he served as an example of what it is to live an honorable life. His children all attended college, have raised their own happy children and are successful business people in their own right. He was proud of all of his family and loved each one deeply.
Norman was born February 15, 1926 in a small village outside of Codogne, a province of Treviso in the Veneto region of Italy. He was the last of 4 children. Early in his childhood, he suffered a debilitating illness which left him deaf in one ear and with significant hearing loss in his other. Despite there being no way to treat his type of hearing loss until late in life, he persevered and was a strong student particularly gifted in math. At around age 15 during World War II, he faced being chased by Fascists and Nazis and was shot at multiple times. He and his much loved older brother Peter escaped capture by hiding out in the hills of his village for several weeks.
After World War II, Norman worked his way up to Belgium and the UK as a house painter. He finally made his move to North America, first landing in Toronto, Canada among other family members who had also immigrated. It was there that he attended night school to earn his plumber’s license and entered an apprenticeship program that would prove valuable when he moved to California to form a plumbing business.
Toronto is a pivotal city for Norm’s history because it’s where he met Eugenia, aka Gene. Norm was attending a goodbye party for his then-girlfriend when he met and became enchanted by Gene. Although a shy man of few words, he knew what was right for him and it didn’t take long to split from his girlfriend and court Gene. Within a few years, Norm and Gene were married and moved to Covina, California where they later became proud American citizens and wonderful examples of the contributions immigrants have made to our country.
The Covina/West Covina area became Norm and Gene’s long residence and center of family life. In fact, they started their second year of marriage in 1953 welcoming their first child, Jerry. They went on to have Greg, twins Peter and Paul, Elissa and John within the next 12 years. In 1957, Covina is also where Norm and Gene founded their company, Pelizon Plumbing. In the early 70’s, Norm and Gene bought a local competitor, Ace, and created the still-running and still-successful Ace-Pelizon Plumbing now managed and owned by son John. It is the oldest family owned plumbing business in the San Gabriel Valley.
In 1981, Norman joined the South Hills Country Club where he enjoyed golfing and attending functions with Gene and their friends. During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, he could often be found at various baseball diamonds and football fields passionately watching his 5 sons perform. When he retired, he was an active attendee of his grandchildren's various sporting events and dance performances.
By 1995, Norman and Gene had moved to Orange County to be closer to where most of their children had relocated. An avid golfer for many years, Norm enjoyed his time outdoors but dabbled in his former plumbing business as a semi-retiree. He continued to enjoy Gene’s cooking, especially his favorites: apple pie, gnocchi, risotto, spaghetti with Gene’s special meat sauce, lasagna and so many others. They also enjoyed many vacations and occasional cruises to exciting locations like Hawaii and Europe.
While Gene’s last years wound down, Norm was a supportive and loving husband. With her death in 2014, Norm was broken-hearted and always vocalized his appreciation for the life and love his “Genie” shared with him. He missed her terribly during these last four years and often said he looked forward to being reunited with her. Gene had always served as the optimist to his pragmatist and the dreamer to his doubter. They were a feisty match and yet always rock solid in their devotion to each other.
“Stormin’ Norman,” as he was occasionally called in recognition of his intense and sometimes vocal passion for sports and politics, did not suffer fools gladly and often would stand up when he saw unfairness. But these passionate displays mellowed considerably in the back half of his life, largely attributable to his deep and unbounded love for his 15 grandchildren. He had quite the sharp sense of humor and could assess a situation in the blink of an eye.
Italian-born and Italian-proud, Norman loved all things Italian. While he was not the kind to put his Italian heritage on display, he especially loved Italian food, Italian music and movies with Italian themes. The Godfather movies were unquestionably his favorite. His family conservatively estimates that he watched the series at least 200 times (and some would say more than 500).
Norman is survived by a deeply grateful and loving family, including his children and their spouses, whom he also considered his children, and his 13 grandchildren. His children are Jerry and Anna, Greg and Chris, Peter and Pam, Paul and Gina, Elissa and Stan, and Kelly and John. His grandchildren include Cristina; Michelle and Melanie; Giana and John; Joseph, Matthew, Lucas and Juilanne; Jayna-Marie and Hugh; and Lauren and Hayley. He was predeceased by his loving wife Gene, his beloved grandson Michael, and his angel granddaughter Rachel.
Services for Norman will be held September 30 at 1pm in the Chapel at Pacific View Memorial Park (3500 Pacific View Dr, Corona Del Mar, CA 92625) followed by a celebration of life at 3pm at El Niguel Country Club (23700 Club House Dr, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Michael J. Pellizzon Charitable Fund. Please send your donations via check with your name and address to Schwab Charitable, PO Box 628298, Orlando, FL 32862 made payable to “Schwab Charitable for the benefit of the Michael J. Pellizzon Charitable Fund.” All funds sent to Michael’s Charitable Fund are tax deductible to you and will be contributed to other independent 501(c)3 non-profit organizations at the direction of the Pellizzon family in honor of Norman. Thank you.
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