Tim was born at Daniel freeman hospital in Inglewood to California on June 18, 1965.  Out that while jack was in the waiting room at Daniel freeman, he was watching the Titan 3 launch at Cape Canaveral Florida.  Just at the moment that the first Titan III three was launched, a cry it came over the loudspeaker in the father’s waiting room and someone spoke the words “baby Vitelli has arrived”.  It was Tim Vitelli.

Tim loved his home in Hawthorne California and loved to play in the backyard.  The backyard was perfect for small children because it was fully enclosed and not too big.  Jack noticed that Tim always loved pointing to the airplanes as they flew around the Los Angeles area.  Noticing this, Jack started to take to him to Los Angeles International Airport and there was a very good viewing area right at the east end of the main runway where the planes flew over very, very close to the ground.  Jack would spend many hours there with Tim only in the evenings and on the weekends.

Tim was a very typical boy with a high level of interest in trucks, machinery, building blocks, Legos, airplanes and trains.  He was always very inquisitive and liked to fit things together.  One of the first signs of this talent was when Jack and Char were entertaining some friends and their apartment in El Segundo and Tim placed a ball into a champagne glass.  It fit perfectly and all the champagne was spilled onto the carpet.

Tim adapted quite well to his homes in EL Segundo and Hawthorne California, the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, West St. Paul, Frankfurt Germany, and Mendota Heights.

When Tim reached the mountains of Colorado he was quite a gentleman but like to get into mischief because he was so inquisitive. Char would sometimes give him what we call today a "time out" in his bedroom. While in his bedroom one time for quite a while, he actually bored a hole in the wall so he could see what was going on in the kitchen and hallway. Vicki was now at an age where she could defend herself against some bossiness of big brother Tim.

While in Colorado Tim was able to prime his interest in railroads by taking the cog railway up to the top of Pike's Peak. He was very excited and studied the cog railway to see exactly how it worked. He is shown here full of excitement as the return cog engine approaches the station at the top of Pike's Peak.

Tim went to kindergarten at Resurrection Catholic School in Minneapolis.  When the family moved to West St. Paul, he attended 1st grade at Garlough School and grades 2-8 at Saint Joseph’s Elementary School.  He then proceeded to Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights Minnesota where he completed four years of high school and graduated in 1983.  He was a member of junior ROTC for four years; he played clarinet in the Saint Thomas Academy marching band, and had excellent teachers.

Tim lived to go to the lake because he loved riding in the boat, fishing and best of all watching the trains that went by twice a day on the south side of Kabekona Bay of Leech Lake near Walker, Minnesota.

 

 

One summer Tim went to camp for two weeks. That was a long time for a young chap of his age. It was a real challenge for him since it was the first time he was away from home for any length of time.

In 1976, Char, Jack, Tim, Vicki, Mark and Lori took a trip out to California visiting primarily Los Angeles to see where Tim and Vicki were born and then up the coast to San Francisco. Tim was 11 years old at the time and was rather frisky climbing up street poles in Chinatown and hanging from cable cars.

Tim then entered Saint Thomas College in St. Paul Minnesota where he pursued a B.A. degree in business and marketing.  He graduated with his B.A. degree and moved to Germany to live with Jack and Char.  In Germany, Tim secured a job in the Honeywell Germany GMBH Accounting department.  There could be no more rigid environment than an accounting department in a German company.  He also had to learn the German language because no English was spoken in this department (at least very little English).  Tim made many good and long lasting German friends.  He also became quite familiar with the German way of life.

While in Germany, one of Tim’s favorite activities was using the company BMW 735i (assigned to Jack) and taking it to the closest Autobahn where there was no speed limit and max it out at the top speed of 250kmh or about 150mph.  His second most favored activity was studying and understanding the German high speed rail system, the Frankfurt Schnellbahn (S-Bahn) system and the Frankfurt U-Bahn system.

In mid-1989, when Char, Joe and Amy, returned from Germany Tim stayed and lived with Jack in an apartment in Hanau, Germany.  During this time, Jack and Tim took some memorable road trips to Vienna, Austria and Zurich, Switzerland.  One memorable evening took place in the Vienna woods section north west of a Vienna.  They took the U-Bahn to the end of the line and had dinner in a very quaint restaurant where they were entertained by an Austrian folk band.  Tim and Jack were two of about only eight people in the restaurant that night so they received a lot of attention right at their table where they also enjoyed some authentic Austrian wine.  This was the time when the eastern bloc of nations was beginning to open the borders so that easterners could cross and experience the western culture.  During their visit in Vienna, the border between Czechoslovakia and Austria was opened for the weekend.  Vienna was absolutely full of Czechs.  This was an absolute surprise to Tim and Jack but a very interesting experience.

Another memorable event was the return trip from Zurich, Switzerland.  They had planned to stay at a Gasthaus somewhere in the Schwartzwald of Southern Germany but there was “no room and any Gasthaus”.  Having decided to drive home that night, they finished the last 200 miles in less than 2 hours.

While in Germany, Tim and Jack also toured the BMW and Mercedes factories.  The BMW Factory is near Munich, Germany and the Mercedes factory is Stuttgart, Germany. Tim became a avid fan of BMW's while in Germany and has driven them ever since. Below are two of his latest BMW 3 Series.

On his return from Germany, Tim went to work for Honeywell’s Residential Division in Golden Valley and then moved to the Target Corporation where he still works.

Tim is a very avid and enthusiastic model railroader and railroad fanning hobbyist.  He has built some outstanding railroad layouts and does an outstanding job in very detailed handcrafted model railroad cars and engines almost all in the HO category.  His son Dan has also taken up this interest.

Tim is also a very talented photographer and has an excellent eye for very unique photographs.  His photographs and his photographs of nature are highlighted in the pine hill section of this web site.  Tim is also very good at editing and “photoshopping” using Adobe’s Photoshop.

Tim watched Jack do a lot of "handyman" jobs around the house and actual home remodeling. As a result, he is a master handyman himself and has undertaken some major home improvements since owning homes. He does plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, heating, air conditioning, roofing and landscaping.