Egidio Gary Toffolo

Egidio Gary Toffolo
Chicago, IL - Egidio Gary Toffolo, age 84, passed away unexpectedly at his residence in Chicago, Illinois on March 8th of this year. Born the second of two sons to Egidio and Ebe (Broggini) Toffolo, in Buffalo, New York in 1936, at the height of the Great Depression, Gary learned early the value of education and spent much of his life pursuing it and then imparting it to his many students. Growing up in an Italian-speaking household surrounded by the aroma of delicious foods, he developed his lifelong love of Italy and the Mediterranean where he traveled many times.
While he began his career as a professor of English literature, it seems inevitable that Gary's love of Mediterranean culture would result in him becoming a professor of humanities. He delighted in telling his students and his children alike of the wonders of the ancient world, the complexities of their cultures, and of the impressive engineering and building feats these civilizations accomplished. This is likely no coincidence as his father was a successful bricklayer and builder, responsible for dozens of buildings that can still be found in Buffalo today. Gary worked long, hard hours for his father during many summers and learned bricklaying, stone masonry and building from a very exacting perfectionist.
Gary completed a Bachelor's degree at Northwestern University, where he met and married Barbara Nolan in 1959. He completed a Masters at the University of Chicago and then began his teaching career in the English Department at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Subsequently he did doctoral research at the University of Manchester, UK, and then took a teaching position at SUNY-Oswego in upstate New York. In 1970 Gary moved to Sault Ste. Marie with his family to teach at Lake Superior State University where he worked until his retirement May 2001 and thereafter was granted emeritus faculty status.
During his long career he also taught at Algoma College in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and gave classes to incarcerated men at Kinross Correctional Facility. He was appointed by the Governor to the LSSU Board of Trustees in 2007. Gary was always a committed advocate for higher education, and was very active in both the Michigan Education Association and LSSU Faculty Association.
Gary's passion for teaching carried on well into his retirement. He gave Elderhostel classes in Sault Ste. Marie and took on one final teaching assignment at the La Univeridad Internacional's Center for Bilingual Multi-cultural Studies, in Cuernavaca, Mexico. His many students fondly remember his informative lectures and tours abroad. Friends and some fortunate former students also may remember the delicious dinners he prepared at his farm as he was a gifted amateur chef.
Gary is survived by his daughters Cris Toffolo, Ph.D. (and husband Charles Amjadali, Ph.D), and Paula Toffolo, RRT, (husband Jonathan Levy, MA), his brother Ronald Toffolo, MD, and five grandchildren: Lily, Brook, Ben, Karl, and Shaheen. His passing follows that of his beloved Aunt Elga Broggini in 2006 and his mother Ebe in 2017. He was laid to rest on April 10th in the family plot in Buffalo NY.