Ray Bortolussi

Ray Bortolussi was born is St. Helena, California on August 29, 1944. His Dad, Guerrino “Jerry” an Italian immigrant and his mom Jean, returned to Los Gatos when he was an infant, Ray was proud to be a third-generation resident of Los Gatos. Growing up, he was fortunate to have the influence of both sets of grandparents (Victor and Christine Menegon and Maria “Angelina” and Antonio Bortolussi), which kept his Italian heritage alive.

After serving a tour of duty in the Vietnam War, Ray returned to Los Gatos and started working at Navlet’s Flowers in San Jose. While working at Navlet’s, Ray met Linda, whom he married in 1971. Together, they opened their own flower shop and settled into Los Gatos to raise a family.

As the owner of Los Gatos Village Flowers & Gifts for 35 years, Ray was a prominent fixture in Los Gatos. He enjoyed serving the community through the Los Gatos Lions Club. The town’s annual BBQ picnic at Oak Meadow Park and the Children’s Holiday Parade were his two favorite events to organize and participate in with the Lions Club. Later, the annual BBQ was replaced with the Cioppino Dinner, which he took the initiative to plan. The first one as a special event became an annual fundraiser for the Lions Club and continues today.

With his friends and family, Ray was known to speak his mind, but he was not one to call attention to himself. For Ray, being a husband, father, and grandfather was his most important job. Ray tirelessly supported his four children – Jennifer, Mark, Andrew, and Adam – throughout their lives, from their 4-H endeavors to raise pigs to each of their individual career paths. He instilled in each of them his strong work ethic and love of family.

As his children grew into adults, finding life partners and having families of their own, Ray welcomed his son-in-law, Roman, and daughter-in-laws, Arleada, Ashley, and Delia, into the Bortolussi family, treating them as one of his own children. His seven grandchildren ranging in age from 13 years to 3 years – Ashley, Clayton, Joshua, Graham, Timothy, Zachary, and Amelia – all called him Nono. Ray loved to feed them ice cream or cookies at any time of day and participated in as many birthdays, school activities, and sporting events for them as he could. Family was his everything and what kept him going every day even as his health declined.

Ray’s sister, Linda, and brother-in-law Bob along with his wife’s brother, Stephen, were an important part of his family. He was also close to his cousins in Los Gatos and St. Helena and proud to be “Uncle Ray” to numerous nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews.

Today we celebrate Dad’s 75 years with us and remember the sparkle in his eyes and stubborn half smile as we say goodbye.