Obituary of Anthony Clarence Falsetta

Anthony “Tony” Falsetta Tony was born on 10/11/35 in Denver, CO. and passed away on 5/27/09 in Tacoma, WA. He is survived by his mother Irene; wife Beverly; children Sheree Doane, Kim, Rick, Mike, Joe Falsetta, Lisa (Chad) Hansen & Leah Wickstrom; grandchildren; Christopher Wight, Dyane (Tyler) Kruse, Ricky, Mario, Rocco, Joey Falsetta, Chad , Anthony Hansen, Michael Klein; great grandchildren Maria, Dillyn Falsetta & Caprice Wight. Tony attended nearly all the high schools in Tacoma until he’d had enough and in 1954 he went to work with his father, Anthony Sr. who owned a Lincoln Mercury dealership in Olympia. After a brief stint in the Army he returned to Tacoma work as a bartender in Falsetta’s Italian Restaurant. The opening of his first car lot was in 1964 and was called J & T Motors, it was located in the corner of the restaurant’s parking lot and the office was no bigger than a garden shed. This eventually led to other business ventures up and down South Tacoma Way and Pacific Avenues with names such as Sierra Sales, Tony’s Fast Cars & 96th Street Motors. While cars sales remained his passion, he also held licenses for Nomad trailers and Mel-mar Motor homes. Many of his customers were repeat or multi-generational. He was an honest man with integrity and character. Tony was interested in anything that had to do with cars, especially street rods. His ’32 Ford Roadster recently won the Sonny Barrett Award at the Tacoma Dome. He sponsored several local car shows over the years, a hobby he thoroughly enjoyed. His was interested in pretty much anything that was old or nostalgic & collectable from antique furniture to marbles. He was a self-taught piano player and could readily play anything he heard. He also was a sports fan. He enjoyed boxing, boating, fishing and auto racing of all types. When he was younger, dad was a member of the Brigantes (“bandits” in Italian) Car Club and The Sons of Italy. At the time of his death he was a member of the Tacoma Elks Club and attended Mass at Holy Rosary Church. Dad did things his way and was often blunt, straight forward and seldom politically correct. That was his style. He was a perfectionist and left little doubt about how he thought things should be. Although he was a man of few words and showed little affection, we never doubted his love for us. He truly will be missed by all who knew him or benefitted from his generosity over the years. Please join his family and friends as we honor the life of this wonderful man. A celebration of life will be held at noon on Sunday, June 7th at 96th Street Motors, located at 9614 Pacific Avenue. Food and beverages will be served. Please extend this invitation to anyone who new Tony and would like to share a story in tribute of this very special person. The Falsetta family would like to thank everyone for their love and support in such a difficult time. In lieu of flowers please support the Franciscan Hospice organization.