Jason Anthony Mortellaro

Victor Mortellaro: I want to talk a little bit about my son Jason, who meant the world to me, as he did to my son Aaron and daughter, Jessica. Jason was always inquisitive about things. His grandfathers, Tony and Ivo, spent a lot of time teaching him about science, history, and astronomy. When growing up, he never gave me an ounce of trouble. He was always respectful and polite. Jason would always say to me, “When you speak to Grandma, please tell her that I hope she’s feeling okay.” He would give the shirt off his back if he could to help someone in need, and all the people that knew him said the same about him.

We were a very close family, and we did a lot together, from going on various trips to Jason and me playing golf and the whole family going bowling. Jason was my right-hand man – I was his best friend, and he was mine. We went to the Stratton golf school in Vermont for a long weekend. We went to Atlantic City and Las Vegas together. We had great times, which will be forever etched in my brain.

Now he’s in a better place. The rest of the family will trudge on with a big hole in their hearts, until it’s our turn to get into heaven and we are reunited. He’ll be terribly missed.

Aaron and Jessie: We just wanted to say a few words about Jay as a brother.

He always had the answer to everything. If you ever had a question on anything – science, electronics, even just how to fix something – he knew the answer. And he was also great at posing unanswerable questions for thought, theoretical math or philosophical questions. He could really make you think.

He was truly someone to look up to – smart (he was so smart, smarter than just getting good grades. He loved physics, brain chemistry, computers, and learning in general), funny, better than you at everything (sports, art, playing guitar, chess, video games). He was basically that ideal when it comes to big brothers.

And when he was around, there was this feeling that no trouble could come to you, this kind of security in his knowledge and his judgment. We’re going to miss him very, very much.