In Loving Memory of Victor Anthony Mariano

Victor Anthony Mariano passed away in his Asheville, North Carolina home at the age of 67 on
Monday, August 18th, 2025.
Victor was born on June 21st, 1958 in Alamosa, Colorado to his mother, Phyllis Mae (Anselmo)
Mariano and his late father, Victor Herbert Mariano. Victor grew up on a dairy farm in Trinidad,
Colorado with his two sisters, Teresa Gonzales and Tamzi Bramante.
Victor enjoyed working on cars and motorcycles (and taking long motorcycle rides), playing the
guitar, listening to music, skiing, rafting, fishing at Monument Lake and getting Lee’s BBQ chili
burgers with his friends. In High School he pole vaulted and was the quarterback of the football
team for two years. Victor was the Valedictorian of the 1976 class at Hoehne High School. After
High School he took vocational classes in Diesel Mechanics in Alamosa.
After moving back to Trinidad, Victor got a job at Barney’s Garage. From there he became a
mechanic at United Parcel Service (UPS). After several moves and promotions, he landed a job
as Corporate Manager of System Technology and Training at the UPS headquarters in Atlanta,
Georgia. After devoting 35 years of his life to UPS, he took an early retirement and moved to
Asheville, North Carolina to be with his wife, Beverly (married in 2025) and her daughter Liza
(24).
One of Victor’s proudest accomplishments was raising his children, Vicki (46), Emilie (30) and
Vincent (26), and helping support their dreams as they all made their way to adulthood.Victor
was also a very proud Grandpa to his grandsons and devoted an entire summer to spending
quality time with them in 2024. He enjoyed making GoPro videos of his grandson, Grayson (11)
building Lego sets and had a tradition of giving him a John Deere tractor ornament every
Christmas. Victor also spent a lot of time with his grandson, Enzo (2). He enjoyed taking him to
the playground, the pool and even a few hiking trips including Enzo’s first 14er (Mount Blue Sky)
in Colorado.
Victor dedicated a large portion of his life to running, starting with road racing. In 2008 he hit a
qualifying time to run the Chicago Marathon and went on to race in 5 additional marathons.
Victor found his love for trail racing when he ran the Sky to Summit race in Sky Valley, Georgia.
This race will hereafter be dedicated to Victor’s legacy.
Victor’s involvement with the trail running community sparked his interest in trail maintenance.
He devoted countless hours for many years to maintaining hiking trails throughout the
mountains of Western North Carolina. A few years ago, the Carolina Mountain Club honored
Victor for achieving over 2,500 hours of service.
Victor was an incredible photographer. Many of his photos and timelapse videos ended up on
the “Chime In” segment of the Asheville Local WLOS news. You can view some of his work
@my.dads.photography on Instagram.
When Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville, North Carolina in 2024, Victor and his family
were fortunate enough to only have very minor damages to their home however a lot of their
community was not as lucky. Without hesitation, Victor grabbed his chainsaw and other tools
and walked all over the surrounding area to help friends and strangers.
We know Victor to be a patient mentor and teacher, a loving husband, son, and brother, a caring
father and grandfather, a selfless friend, and a tireless volunteer. Through his service to others,
he found his purpose. What a world it would be if we could all exemplify even a little of that.
Victor was preceded in death by his father, Victor H. Mariano and his infant daughter Jennifer
Mariano. He is survived by his mother Phyllis Mariano, sisters Teresa Gonzalez and Tamzi (Joe)
Bramante, wife Beverly Todd, children Vicki (Josh) Gordon, Emilie (Chandler) Denton, Vincent
Mariano and Liza Shropshire, grandchildren Grayson Gordon, Enzo Denton and
Shyloh-Everette Skylar Mariano, and nephew Alexander Gonzalez.
If you would like to honor Victor, please consider giving back to the mountains of WNC by
making a donation in his name to The Carolina Mountain Club
(https://carolinamountainclub.org/).