Eugene Tavonatti

1928 - 2022

Eugene (Gino) Tavonatti
November 3, 1928 - July 19, 2022
Manteca, California - Gino Tavonatti passed away peacefully at the age of 93 from natural causes at his home in Manteca, California surrounded by his wife, children, and loved ones. He died as he lived: strong, stoic, and tough till the end. He is survived by his wife Jean, married 70 years, two daughters, Linda and Laurie, and three sons, Robert, William, and David. He is also survived by 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Gino was born to Silvio and Nina Tavonatti in 1928 in Iron Mountain Michigan. He had one brother, Ted who has passed, and has one sister, Sylvia Paquin, who lives in Iron Mountain. After serving a term in the US Marines, Gino graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry. He wanted to become a forest ranger until his young family needed more income than a forest ranger could earn. He moved out west in 1955 to begin working for Farmers Insurance Company, ultimately settling in Merced California, where he worked in the Farmers Regional Office for the next 30 years. After retirement, he moved to Mariposa where he lived for 25 years until moving to Manteca where he could be closer to family.
Throughout his years in Merced and beyond, Gino was a loyal member of the Italo-American Lodge. He attended all their meetings and every August he brought his family to the annual summer picnic at Lake Yosemite where he was a fierce bocce ball competitor. Among his other sports, Gino bowled weekly in several bowling leagues and played men's softball in Merced during the summers.
Although Gino loved his sports, his true love was hunting and fishing. He grew up with a rifle in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. He would travel back to his hometown of Iron Mountain every November to be there at the start of deer season. He also hunted elk in Idaho and often regaled family and friends with tales of spotting an elk at the top of a mountain and then spending hours stalking it until he brought it down and dragged it miles back to camp. He also loved fishing for trout in every lake in Northern California and for Salmon in Canada. It is hard to say what his magic was, but he always caught the biggest fish of his group.
In lieu of flowers or donations, Gino can be best honored by creating new memories, hopefully involving the retelling of stories of loving the outdoors, or of boisterous card games where cards would fly into the air if the hand wasn't going his way. A celebration of his life is being scheduled for the fall, and details will be shared directly with friends and family.