Giovanni "Gio" Guadalupe Hernandez-Piña was born on Saturday, July 27th, 1991, in Yakima, WA. He entered into the glory and light of eternal peace on April 1, 2024. He was 32 years old. He is survived by his parents Urbie and Gloria Piña, his brother Sisto (Lexi) Piña, brother Junior (Lacey Zerb) Piña, nieces Santana and Maverick Piña, nephew Dru Piña, his grandparents and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Giovanni was raised in the Tri-Cities, WA, beginning elementary school in Pasco where he attended Mark Twain Elementary School. He later moved with his family to Kennewick during his 2nd grade year and remained in Kennewick, graduating from Kamiakin High School in 2010.

From the time Giovanni was a baby, his smile lit up any room he was in. He was an outgoing, articulate, and very friendly child. Gio never met a stranger. As a little boy he would instantly make friends at any playground or social event he was at. He would tell his parents that he was going to go play with his "friend", and when asked what his friend's name was, he would pause to think and say, "I don't know. He's my friend". Then throw up his arms and take off running to play. He never outgrew this. His family can recall countless times that Gio would meet someone new and tell them about his friend but did not know their name because he didn't catch it during their interaction.

It was easy to see that Gio was naturally athletic as soon as he could walk. He was excellent at roller blading, skateboarding, bike riding, basketball, football, wrestling, long-distance running and anything else he decided to try. Wrestling was his sport of choice to focus on and he led the way for his family to follow him. If Giovanni was doing it, his brothers wanted to do it too and oh how they adored him. Gio was selected to travel to Holland where he wrestled and was an ambassador for Team USA for the People-to-People program when he was 14 years old. He went on to be a Greco State Champion in the Spring of 2009 and wrestled at two community colleges for a short time.

Giovanni loved his family big and was their fiercest protector. He was so proud of his brothers and loved them with everything he had. This love carried on to his two nieces and nephew. He beamed when he looked at them with such pride and would sit to play whatever they asked, whenever they asked. He was never too cool to be silly with them.

In adulthood, Gio worked various jobs in customer service and flooring work. It did not matter what the job was at the time, Gio was all about it and engulfed himself in that role. Giovanni loved the comradery of a team and if he was on your team he was all in. In recent years, he found a love for cooking and took immense pride in his work.

Gio loved to do anything that allowed him to be busy using his hands. He loved to whittle on pieces of wood, collect and polish stones, disassemble his thrift shopping finds to make something out of nothing, collect sports cards, and anything else that would catch his interest. He was a stand-up guy who did not like to see anyone bullied, disrespected or done wrong. If he saw it, he did not hesitate to step in and say something, no matter the consequence. He did this for his family, friends and new "friends" alike. He was a good man and will be missed immensely by all but especially us, his family, who will forever be missing a piece of our hearts.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday April 12th from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM at the Richland Community Center 500 Amon Park Drive, Richland WA.

In lieu of flowers, the Piña family requests that you donate to the American Diabetes Association in Gio's honor.