Florentino Gonzales

Captain Tino, this amazing, generous, loving man weighed anchor in Saint Petersburg, Florida on March 14, 2023, to sail from this life to the next. He will be missed dearly by many. We see you on calm waters with perfect wind.  We know you’ll pick us up on that not-so-distant shore in the next life. You’ll forever be our anchor, our compass, and as Jane said ‘the wind in our sails’. Survived by first mate (wife) Jane, daughters Cassie Gonzales and Alicia Gonzales, brother Rick Gonzales, sister Katherine Gonzales, nephews Matthew (Temina) Gonzales and Kyle (Joe) Murphy. Tino was born in Sacramento and was raised in Salinas, California. He lived an extraordinarily unique and punk rock life. As a child, he lived in France and spoke fluent French. Raised in California, he rode horses, brought home stray animals and began tinkering with cars. He hitchhiked California in the 60s, camping, hiking and attending iconic concerts, even if it was just outside the gate. He traveled extensively throughout the US and internationally, visiting the Philippines, Germany, Canada and the Caribbean.  He moved to Minnesota and was an auto mechanic, working for Twin City Auto in St. Paul, MN.  He loved racing show room stock cars with his friend Larry Hirabayashi. He learned to scuba dive and became an instructor with the Argonauts dive shop.  He went back to college, and lucky for him, found out Jane, who was taking scuba lessons, was a recent chemistry graduate and he needed help with his homework.  Jane invited Tino to dinner and there was immediate “Chemistry” between them. They were married a year and a half later.  Tino and Jane moved to Salinas, California and lived there for 13 years, and had both daughters while finishing up his degrees in Computer Science and Accounting. Tino and Jane returned to Minnesota. Tino started working at Medtronic, Inc. as a computer operator and 20 years later was a Principle IT Technologist at the time of his retirement. In 2009, Tino and Jane started taking sailing lessons, which included a weeklong class in the British Virgin Islands on a catamaran which sparked their love of sailing.  In 2013, they attended the Annapolis boat show and purchased a catamaran which they named Squisita.  She arrived in Miami in 2014, and they sailed from Miami to Saint Petersburg with Captain Z. This was the beginning of many adventures for Tino, Jane, Cassie, Alicia, Rick, and many other guests. Rick was on many sailing trips with Tino and Jane; they loved that he was their gourmet chef, helped diagnose engine issues, was quick to wash down the boat at every dock, in addition to enjoying his companionship. Tino loved spending summers at the cabin at Mille Lacs Lake, MN.  Many family gatherings were enjoyed with Tino as the ‘Meat Master’ in charge of all grilling. He enjoyed working with his hands, including building much of their Blaine home, fixing things at the lake cabin, repairing and rebuilding boats, and helping friends and neighbors.  A source of enjoyment at the lake was to discuss maintenance problems and coming up with potential solutions with his friend Brian Dedolph. If anyone needed a tool or solution, he was their go-to guy. Tino and Jane were married for almost 42 years. The most beautiful marriage ever seen. Full of love, laughs, dancing, and lots of sassiness. For those that don’t know he fought a 12+ year battle with prostate cancer. It eventually spread but as a family, they had countless adventures and good times during that period. So much love was shared, and so many laughs were had.  Later in life to fatherhood, he was a gentle and funny dad who used wordplay to connect with his daughters.  Some of their favorite memories were traveling with their Dad coast to coast for college visits. He felt his greatest accomplishment was raising daughters who felt empowered to try anything. Special thank you to Dr. J. Karl Kemberling of Minnesota Urology and Dr. Joseph Levine of North Memorial Cancer Center for their professional and personal care. Tino wishes you to keep life fun, keep it light, fill it with laughs, love deeply, and adventure every chance you get. A gathering to remember Tino in Minnesota will be planned this summer. Memorials preferred to www.mnurologyfoundation.org