Tommy DeLorenzo, beloved Chicago balloon artist, dies at 38
Tommy DeLorenzo’s personality could best be described with one word: joy.
As a young kid, he envisioned owning his own balloon artistry business, which is what he did at age 14 when he officially launched Balloons by Tommy in 2000, working to bring entertainment across the Chicago area.
“Tommy was always absolutely filled with joy,” his sister, Debbie Strohm, said. “Even from when he was very, very little, he had a permanent smile on his face. Everything was full of laughter. He brought fun into everything he did.”
Mr. DeLorenzo, 38, died Oct. 24 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
He was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2022, and often had to be away from the business — including during the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center— for stays in the hospital.
The DNC balloon drop, featuring 100,000 balloons, was a tribute to Mr. DeLorenzo, who was completing a round of chemotherapy and getting a stem cell transplant at the time. He watched the balloon drop, created by 50 volunteers pulled from across the industry on short notice, from his hospital bed with his husband, Scott.
He joined Mr. DeLorenzo at Balloons by Tommy in 2013, and together they’ve worked to help train and mentor others in the craft. Scott DeLorenzo will continue the work Mr. DeLorenzo started as a teen.
The couple met in 2013. Seven or eight months into their relationship, Scott DeLorenzo had already bought a wedding ring. They married about three years later after moving into their home in Bensenville.
Mr. DeLorenzo could become friends with just about anyone, his husband said.
“There’s just like a magnetism to him,” Scott DeLorenzo said. “There’s this force that he had that just drew people in, and it drew me in too.
“He was probably one of the most fun-loving people that has ever existed,” Scott DeLorenzo added.
Mr. DeLorenzo’s 13-year-old niece, Siena Strohm, said, “He was always the life of the party.”
Born July 8, 1986, to Joseph and Mary DeLorenzo, Mr. DeLorenzo grew up in Elk Grove Village with two older siblings, Strohm, 49, and Michael DeLorenzo, 43.
Michael DeLorenzo said his brother “brought color to all our lives.
“Just his creativity, his imagination made everyone feel joy,” Michael DeLorenzo said. “Just the way he laughed at your joke, his interest in you and everything you were going through. With his work, his desire to create things that just inspired joy. Just being around him made you feel that way.”
Mr. DeLorenzo glowed with positivity, making even small moments special.
“There’d be times when we’d plan a dinner for mom and dad, but it wouldn’t just be dinner for mom and dad,” Strohm said. “It had to have a theme, and it’d have to have props, and it had to have all these things. For him, he found joy in making moments for other people.”
She added that her brother constantly modeled kindness to everyone.
“He would want people to honor him in a way where every single person that you encounter in a day, show them some kind of kindness, leave them better than you found them, and that would be what he was and what he’d want people to do for him,” Strohm said.
Mr. DeLorenzo also loved animals, including the two dogs he owned with his husband — Disco, a sheepadoodle, and Dandie, a goldendoodle.
He also enjoyed exploring nature. He turned the couple's Bensenville backyard into a butterfly sanctuary where he raised butterflies, especially his favorite, the monarch.
After his diagnosis in 2022, Mr. DeLorenzo and Scott set out to “see the world a little bit more,” traveling to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and other places.
“He died with a lot of dreams coming true for him,” Scott DeLorenzo said. “And he lived a very short life, but he lived a lot in that lifetime.”
Visitation for Mr. DeLorenzo will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Chandler's Banquets, 401 N. Roselle Road, in Schaumburg. Attendees are asked to wear bright colors “to celebrate Tommy’s life.”