Obituary for Anthony Dante Rubinelli

Anthony Dante Rubinelli was born March 20,1962, in Kankakee, IL, to Nancy and Romano Rubinelli. He was preceded in death by his father, Romano, his grandparents, Art and Alvina Nelson and Dante and Julie Rubinellli, and his father and mother-in-law Marshall and Margaret Paulson. Tony is survived by his wife, Marsha, his son, Romano, and his daughter Christina. He is also survived by his loving and devoted mother, Nancy, his sister Michelle (Harold) Newman, nephew Michael and niece Jessica. He is also survived by his uncles Jim (Mary) Nelson and Dennis (Alison) Nelson and cousins Sean Nelson and Chad (Barbie) Nelson and an aunt, Suzanne Boemer. In 1980 Tony graduated from Westwood HS in Westwood, NJ and left home to attend Viterbo University. He married Marsha Paulson on May 26, 1984. They were blessed with two children, Romano Dante and Christina Renae. Tony worked as a service technician at Stansfield Vending for over 25 years until heart problems in 2011 and an amputation put an end to his work life. Over the last 10 years Tony has endured numerous health challenges and faced them all with his usual humor and courage. He had end stage renal failure and stepped up to the challenge of in-home dialysis. He found joy in spending time with his family and friends, watching and critiquing movies, and finding ways to incorporate movie quotes and trivia into his family’s daily life. Tony also loved camping, writing and music of almost every genre. He loved to help his wife and Sue Ann with their performances as Wombs With A View and was the one who came up with the name for their comedy duo. He loved the theatre and loved the time he spent helping with productions at The Muse. Tony loved to read, draw, and cook and spent the last few Christmases and Thanksgivings teaching his kids how to cook the feast. One of his favorite pastimes was making his wife laugh until she cried and he continued to do that until his final day. He was grateful for his many friends (Chrys, Gary, Dona, Rich, Denise, Nick, Darrel, Mike, Greg) and the laughter and good times he enjoyed with them. Tony was overwhelmed by the kindness and care he received from the staff at Gundersen, which includes the cardiopulmonary floor, Neurology floor, and the palliative care team. He wanted to extend a special thank you to the dialysis staff and the wonderful Dr. Siddiqi who gave him the invaluable gift of time. He spent it well. Please join us Sat. Aug 28 for a Celebration of Life at The Muse Theatre (1353 Avon St. La Crosse, WI) from 1:00PM - 8:00PM with stories and readings from 3:00PM - 5:00PM. Drop in whenever you can, stay as long as you like, celebrate the man, the myth, the legend that was our Tony.