Tommy DeLorenzo’s character may greatest be described with one phrase: pleasure.
As a younger child, he envisioned proudly owning his personal balloon artistry enterprise, which is what he did at age 14 when he formally launched Balloons by Tommy in 2000, working to carry leisure throughout the Chicago space.
“Tommy was all the time completely stuffed with pleasure,” his sister, Debbie Strohm, stated. “Even from when he was very, little or no, he had a everlasting smile on his face. The whole lot was filled with laughter. He introduced enjoyable into every thing he did.”
Mr. DeLorenzo, 38, died Oct. 24 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
He was identified with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2022, and infrequently needed to be away from the enterprise — together with through the 2024 Democratic National Convention on the United Middle— for stays within the hospital.
The DNC balloon drop, that includes 100,000 balloons, was a tribute to Mr. DeLorenzo, who was finishing a spherical of chemotherapy and getting a stem cell transplant on the time. He watched the balloon drop, created by 50 volunteers pulled from throughout the trade on brief discover, from his hospital mattress together with his husband, Scott.
He joined Mr. DeLorenzo at Balloons by Tommy in 2013, and collectively they’ve labored to assist prepare and mentor others within the craft. Scott DeLorenzo will proceed the work Mr. DeLorenzo began as a teen.
The couple met in 2013. Seven or eight months into their relationship, Scott DeLorenzo had already purchased a marriage ring. They married about three years later after transferring into their dwelling in Bensenville.
Mr. DeLorenzo may develop into associates with nearly anybody, his husband stated.
“There’s identical to a magnetism to him,” Scott DeLorenzo stated. “There’s this power that he had that simply drew folks in, and it drew me in too.
“He was most likely one of the vital fun-loving folks that has ever existed,” Scott DeLorenzo added.
Mr. DeLorenzo’s 13-year-old niece, Siena Strohm, stated, “He was all the time the lifetime of the occasion.”
Born July 8, 1986, to Joseph and Mary DeLorenzo, Mr. DeLorenzo grew up in Elk Grove Village with two older siblings, Strohm, 49, and Michael DeLorenzo, 43.
Michael DeLorenzo stated his brother “introduced coloration to all our lives.
“Simply his creativity, his creativeness made everybody really feel pleasure,” Michael DeLorenzo stated. “Simply the best way he laughed at your joke, his curiosity in you and every thing you have been going by means of. Together with his work, his want to create issues that simply impressed pleasure. Simply being round him made you’re feeling that manner.”
Mr. DeLorenzo glowed with positivity, making even small moments particular.
“There’d be occasions after we’d plan a dinner for mother and pop, however it wouldn’t simply be dinner for mother and pop,” Strohm stated. “It needed to have a theme, and it’d must have props, and it needed to have all this stuff. For him, he discovered pleasure in making moments for different folks.”
She added that her brother continually modeled kindness to everybody.
“He would need folks to honor him in a manner the place each single individual that you just encounter in a day, present them some sort of kindness, depart them higher than you discovered them, and that might be what he was and what he’d need folks to do for him,” Strohm stated.
Mr. DeLorenzo additionally beloved animals, together with the 2 canine he owned together with his husband — Disco, a sheepadoodle, and Dandie, a goldendoodle.
He additionally loved exploring nature. He turned the couple’s Bensenville yard right into a butterfly sanctuary the place he raised butterflies, particularly his favourite, the monarch.
After his prognosis in 2022, Mr. DeLorenzo and Scott got down to “see the world a bit bit extra,” touring to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and different locations.
“He died with a whole lot of desires coming true for him,” Scott DeLorenzo stated. “And he lived a really brief life, however he lived rather a lot in that lifetime.”
Visitation for Mr. DeLorenzo can be from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Chandler’s Banquets, 401 N. Roselle Highway, in Schaumburg. Attendees are requested to put on brilliant colours “to rejoice Tommy’s life.”
