Eugene Angelo Scartozzi
July 12, 1929 – April 10, 2020
Age 90 of Minneapolis. Preceded in death by: parents Michael Angelo and Caroline Scartozzi, sisters Vivian Nordby and Mildred Haas; first wife R. Marlene Scartozzi; and grandson Chad Jonak. Survived by wife, Charlotte Koski; sons and daughters: Mark Scartozzi, Carla Nakamura; Gina Banas, Ralph (Tony) Scartozzi, Valerie Junkert, Joseph Scartozzi, Caroline Scartozzi, and Vincent Scartozzi; grandchildren: Daniel Junkert, David Junkert and Luke Nakamura; great-grandchildren: Aiden Junkert, Brecken Junkert, and Myla Junkert; several nieces and nephews Eugene (Gino) was born in Des Moines, Iowa, as the era known as the Great Depression was beginning. His parents, Michael Angelo and Caroline (Rossi) Scartozzi, decided to bring Gino and his two older sisters, Vivian and Mildred, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they hoped to find work during the early 1930s, The family settled in Northeast Minneapolis, in a home on Monroe Street NE. Gino attended schools in “Nordeast” and graduated from the Minneapolis Vocational High School. He joined the US Navy in January 1948, serving aboard the USS Cavalier and in Guam during the Korean Conflict, and he received the United Nations medal, the National Defense Service medal, and the Korean Service medal. When he left the service in December 1951, he returned to Northeast Minneapolis. He met a lovely young woman, R. Marlene Zastrow, from Hawkins, Wisconsin, and they married in Minneapolis on May 24, 1952. They settled In Columbia Heights, where they raised a family of eight children: Mark, Carla, Gina, Ralph (Tony), Valerie, Joe, Caroline and Vincent. They later decided to divorce in 1972. Gino began his career working as a machinist for Northern Pump (now Northern Ordnance), eventually becoming an industrial/manufacturing engineer for several Twin Cities companies, including American Hoist & Derrick. In the early 1970s, Gino met his second wife, Charlotte Koski, and they married in August, 1974. They bought a home in the Beltrami neighborhood of Northeast Minneapolis, which is where Gino spent his final years, growing vegetable gardens and cooking Italian dinners. He developed terminal cancer in June, 2019, but was able to enjoy the remainder of his life with home hospice services. He passed away at home on Good Friday, April 10, 2020. His wish was to be cremated and placed in his family’s plot in the St. Anthony cemetery in Northeast Minneapolis, and that is what his family is in the process of doing. No public services will be held. (Published in the Star Tribune on April 15, 2020)