Gabriel Mario Della-Piana

Gabriel Mario Della-Piana, 98 years old, passed away at home on December 25, 2024, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. He was born on April 4, 1926, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Leandro Della-Piana and Elisa Savini Della-Piana. He married Connie Kubo Della-Piana on April 25, 1979. During their partnership of 45 years, they worked at the same organizations, which included the University of Utah, the University of Illinois, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Together, they authored articles, papers, and presentations; taught a graduate-level course; conducted a workshop on evaluation in India sponsored by the BBC World Service Trust; and co-authored with others two books on undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Gabe envisioned and engaged in efforts to provide high-quality educational experiences for all students, from pre-kindergarten to adult education.

His lifelong passion was his family. He loved attending family events, from sporting events to performances, and watching them online and on video. His grand passion was selecting and giving books to the family. Every year before the holidays, he would spend months exploring bookstores, book lists, and websites, compiling lists of specific books, and selecting (and reading) the “right” book for each of his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, in-laws, and friends.

This love of reading and books continued throughout his life. At the time of his death, he was completing the final revisions to his memoir, “Making Educational Moments Matter: Illustrative Events That Live on in Future Experiences.” As noted in the dedication and acknowledgements for this book, he recognized the contributions of others from his colleagues, co-workers, and friends and especially from his family, who served as his sounding boards, critical friends, and often as research subjects.

During World War II, he enlisted and served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theater. After the war, he earned his B.A. (1949) in Psychology and Mathematics from Brigham Young University and his M.S. and Ph.D. (1953, 1956) in Learning and Evaluation (Educational Psychology) from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. While studying at the University of Illinois, he was Director of Curriculum and Guidance and a part-time teacher of seventh and eighth-grade mathematics in District No.111, Highwood, Illinois.

He joined the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah in 1958. In 1975, he was Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of the Bureau of Educational Research. Besides teaching at the University of Utah, he taught at UCLA, Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana), Miami University (Ohio), USAID (India), Marharishi International University (Iowa), and the University of Texas, El Paso, and was Professor in the Schools (Guadalupe Schools, Salt Lake City, Utah). In addition to teaching, he continued to direct research, development, and evaluation projects focused on issues related to learning, reading, writing, literacy, parenting, instructional design, testing, and assessment and approaches to evaluation. His research and materials development in literacy led him to test his ideas about education and experience in the context of homelessness through the Bennion Center for Community Engagement at the University of Utah. He was the past President of the National Society of Programmed Instruction (now the International Society for Performance Improvement).

In 1991, he was recognized for his service and devotion to the University of Utah and, upon the recommendation of the faculty, was appointed Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology.

Throughout his career, he received funding from the U.S. Office/Department of Education, Utah State Board of Education, the U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Smithsonian Institution. He was the author and/or co-author of over 150 refereed publications and papers, chapters, and seven books.

From 1974 -1975, he took a leave of absence from the University of Utah to become the Director of Intercultural Reading and Language Development at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. In 1992, he became a consultant and then Director of Research, Evaluation, and Curriculum of the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence at the University of Texas at El Paso. He then continued his commitment to public service as a Program Director in the Directorate of STEM Education at the U.S. National Science Foundation. After serving four years as Program Director, he continued as a consultant in evaluation on several educational projects.

He is Survived by his wife (Connie) and his children and their partners (Marla and Mark DeBry; Karen Della-Piana, Ralph Dellapiana, and Rocio Summers; Risa Hawes; Gina Dellapiana; Ben and Kristie Della-Piana; and Tadashi Sakashita and Lily Yee), twenty-three (23) grandchildren, forty-three (43) great-grandchildren, two (2) great-great grandchildren, in-laws (Gail Della-Piana; Diane and Gary Miya; Pati Kubo and Steve Sixta; Kristie Kubo, Casey Kubo) and nephews, nieces, and cousins.

He is preceded in death by his father (Leandro Della-Piana), his mother (Elisa Savini Della-Piana), his brothers and sisters (Fred Della-Piana, Pasquale Della-Piana, Rita Daniels, Rose Eliot, Ralph (Zoof) Della-Piana; Frank Della-Piana, Concetta Della-Piana, and Leandro Della-Piana) his oldest son (Vernal Della-Piana), and a nephew and niece.

A Celebration of Life was held on January 18, 2025, for family. In remembrance of Gabe and in lieu of flowers, a contribution to the Utah Food Bank or an organization of your choosing is suggested.

Interment will be at Memorial Mountain View Mortuary and Cemetery, Cottonwood Heights, Utah.