Querino "Tony" Lelli, Jr.

Querino (Tony) Anthony Lelli, Jr. passed away peacefully on June 27, 2024, after 94 years of life with his family by his side.

Born June 23, 1930 in Steubenville, Ohio to Querino A. Lelli, Sr. and Nicolina (Mangiamele) Lelli, Tony grew up in Steubenville along with his two brothers, Raymond and Geno.

Tony regaled his family with many stories of growing up in the same neighborhood as Dean Martin. From running numbers as a young kid to quarterbacking for Big Red (Steubenville H.S.), Tony had many accolades as a standout athlete despite his short stature. Tony was a graduate of Steubenville H.S. Class of 1948. He was a star quarterback and earned varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball where he excelled as a catcher. A highlight of Tony’s sports adventures was getting a chance to try out for the Chicago White Sox minor league team shortly after high school. He thought it was a godsend that he didn’t make the team as the salary at the time was paltry and you had to pay for everything. He then decided to head west to a small school in Klamath Falls, Oregon to play football and baseball for Oregon Technical Institute (OTI). There he met the love of his life, Billie June (June) Neely, and they married on December 15, 1951, in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Thus began a union that lasted 70+ years and produced 5 children.

Tony and June went back to Ohio after Tony had finished school, but after a couple of years they found their way back west to Klamath Falls again. Tony was hired as a surveyor for Pacific Power and Light and started out working on the COPCO Dam on the Klamath River along the Oregon/California border. At PP&L, Tony and the family moved several times as he advanced in his career. Each move had to have the whole family’s approval so he would always ask them if they were ok with it. His moves took the family from Klamath Falls to Medford to Mt. Shasta, CA, to Roseburg OR, then to Alturas CA, where he spent 37 years. Tony and June made their final move to Bend OR in 2010 to be closer to family..

Tony was very active in his church and the community regardless of where he lived. Tony was a lifelong Rotarian and a member of the Elks. He served on the Alturas City Council for many years. Tony retired in 1988 at the age of 58 and spent his retirement golfing, attending local high school events, traveling with friends and visiting with kids and grandkids. He always found time to attend his grandkids’ sporting events no matter where they took place. Tony loved his family more than anything and every vacation while the kids were growing up was spent either traveling across the country with all of them in tow to visit grandparents or later, camping with kids and grandkids. His most favorite times were when the whole family came home for Christmas or spent a week camping in Oregon.

Tony is survived by his wife June and his 5 children, Charla (Mark), Steve (Kim), Shirley (Dennis), Linda (Nate) and Cheryl (Jeff). Tony was also blessed with 10 grandkids and 4 great-grandkids. Services will be held on July 10th. Information as to time and location will be on the website of Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home, https://www.niswonger-reynolds.com/obituaries/ In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Judes Children’s Hospital or Shriners Children’s Hospital of Northern California.

On a side note, a few years ago, Tony worked on a story of his life with one of his daughters and created this book. Hope you enjoy it as much as they enjoyed writing it… https://bit.ly/3VZWKb3