Lodovico "Vic" Spinabelli

Age 95, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on February 20, 2021. Loving husband of Mary (Rizzon) Spinabelli and father of Mary Claire (Carl) Izzo, Lodovico (Mary) Spinabelli, and Sarah (Dave) Hudock. He was preceded in death by his brother, Luigi (Elena) Spinabelli. He is survived by fifteen grandchildren and many loving cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Lodovico was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy on October 12, 1925. At a young age, his family moved to Ortiporio on the island of Corsica, France. While there, he helped his father, Alessio, and brother, Luigi, raise pigs and develop recipes that would one day become the foundation for their family business, Parma Sausage in the Strip District. When World War II broke out, Lodovico and his family fled Corsica and returned to Italy, where, as a teenager, he joined the Italian resistance movement and their fight against fascism. Following the war, as young men in their twenties, he and his brother found jobs as deep-sea divers for a salvaging company in Genoa. Lodovico later moved to Cismon del Grappa to work with his uncle. In 1954, while there in Cismon, he met the love of his life, Mary Rizzon, an Italian American visiting town on vacation with her family. After a brief three-week courtship, Mary and Lodovico were married at a church in Arsiè. The two honeymooned around Northern Italy, taking photographs of one another in black and white film that would sit, untouched, for over sixty years. Their grandson would later discover the undeveloped film and get the photographs developed, a time capsule of their whirlwind romance—two newlyweds grinning on the beach and posing for one another in front of fountains and mountains. Their whole lives ahead of them—three children, fifteen grandchildren, 66 years of marriage. After their honeymoon, they embarked on this new life in Pittsburgh. After briefly helping his father and brother with their business, Lodovico decided to pursue his passion as an auto mechanic. An avid outdoorsman, Lodovico often described the year he moved his family to Vermont as "the best year of his life," a year he spent hunting and fishing until sundown. But, wanting to be close with family again, he returned to Pittsburgh to continue his life and career there. It's difficult to capture Lodovico's spirit and humor in such a short space, but here are a few vignettes: one New Year's Eve, when asked for his resolution, he smiled and said "I'm going to stop eating when I am full," after seeing a new movie he would immediately give you a spoiler: "but in the end… he did die," he hosted a Father's Day lobster boil in his backyard for years, he'd wink one of his blue eyes at you from across the table right after finishing his wine and right before telling his wife "you forgot to give me some wine," he loved good food and drink and telling stories, and his family above all. At holiday dinners, he would sit at the head of the table, his wife, three children, and fifteen grandchildren seated alongside him, and declare in his warm Italian accent that "it's just nice to all be together." And it was. Until that day we can all be together again, he will be remembered through countless stories of his adventurous and remarkable life. The family would like to extend their deepest thanks and appreciation to the staff at Asbury Heights, Evergreen unit, for their remarkable and tender care. Visitation and burial will be private to the family only. Mass of Christian Burial will take place on WEDNESDAY, February 24, 2021, in St. Michael the Archangel Parish, St. Bernard Church at 10 a.m. EVERYONE PLEASE MEET AT THE CHURCH. Arrangements entrusted to WILLIAM SLATER II FUNERAL SERVICE (412-563-2800), Scott Twp., 15220. www.slaterfuneral.com