His Generosity
"First, Giancarlo was incredibly talented. There is no doubt in that. Whether in math or music or many other fields, Giancarlo with natural talent constantly hammered with hard work and polished to perfection, was a shining genius. Not unlike the Dante he admired so greatly.
Second, Giancarlo was a very virtuous man. He had great compassion and profound morality. As I recently perused through old emails, I found these words from Giancarlo: "I believe that Christian ethics and values and love and morals are among the highest.” In another email, Giancarlo wrote that he wanted to join the Peace Corps after college. Despite his many talents, and in addition to his many virtues, Giancarlo had a striking humility. He never let his talents get to his head. Last year Giancarlo came over to my apartment to catch up on things, and our conversation eventually moved to girls. It didn't take me long to figure out that several girls had serious crushes on Giancarlo, but he was too humble, innocent, or naive to realize it.
This brings me to my third point, that Giancarlo preferred to put himself at our level rather than lord his impressive talents and virtues over us. His demeanor was persistently personable, friendly, and good-natured. During our senior year, he went out of his way to help out guys who were drowning in that dreaded sea of calculus. This is just one example of his many unspoken acts of friendship and charity. One of the greatest aspects of friendship with Giancarlo was his great and goofy sense of humor. In the midst of an intense philosophical email, Giancarlo wrote, "Besides, you know that I think your beliefs are wrong. You know that I also think that you're a carrot-face." I continue to enjoy the memory of Giancarlo complete with a “vine-studded afrancing” like a tribesman with Fr. Gregory. " - from Tommy Heyne' s Eulogy for Giancarlo
"On my first years as headmaster, the development office organized an auction of some artwork by Fr. Damian. We set up a tent on the Upper Field with the artwork on display, tables for food and drink, and rows of chairs. In the corner Giancarlo was seated at a piano, playing as professionally as a man 10 years older. I admired his talent but even more, I admired the generosity with which he gave up a Sunday afternoon to play the piano for a School event. In his peaceful self-possession, he entertained the guests, confident in himself, not drawing attention to himself. " - Fr. Peter Verhalen