Tim was born on May 25, 1950 in Rochester, New York. He moved to the California Bay Area with his grandparents when he was 7 years old.

After living in the bay area throughout his childhood and high school, Tim voluntarily enlisted in the US Navy in September 1969 during the Vietnam War. He served for four years and was honorably discharged in June 1973. He was stationed in a variety of places during his service. These included Adak, Alaska (which he wasn't too fond of since it was so cold), the Philippines and one of his favorites, Japan.

After his time in the Navy, and after being a bachelor for several more years in the 1970's, Tim married his wife Beatriz in June 1980. Tim ultimately became part of Beatriz's family, which included his late mother and father-in-law, as well as his two sisters-in-law, Rosalie and Antonia. Tim and Beatriz went on to have two children, Sabrina and Austin.

Tim was always considered a hard worker. He spent a good portion of his working life in shipping and receiving, working in warehouses for water purification plants in the Bay Area. Eventually, he became a route driver for Culligan and worked there for 14 years up until his retirement last year at the age of 66. Even at that age, he was still driving the Culligan truck and replacing heavy water softener exchange tanks for customers.

Tim enjoyed many things in life. He was a huge WWII & Civil War buff always reading up on these wars and watching documentaries about them. He always wanted to visit Normandy, France and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but never got the chance to do that. He did, however, get to visit the USS Arizona monument at Pearl Harbor, as well as the USS Missouri and was so incredibly thrilled to be there; almost like a kid in a candy shop.

He loved watching movies. Some he even enjoyed watching over and over and over again! He especially loved action, horror, westerns and war films. But he liked a good comedy and some romance ones. As he got older he would get very emotional during movies, especially the romance ones. When the family knew an emotional part of a movie was coming up, they would always look at Tim and, through sniffles and watery eyes, he would say, "There must be something in the air!"

Tim also loved old TV shows and some new ones. His favorites were Combat (of course), McHale's Navy (obviously), Gilligan's Island and many Westerns. Some of the newer show he enjoyed were "Dancing with the Stars", "Survivor", and "The Walking Dead" (he loved zombie shows and films).

But, more than anything, his greatest joy was being with his family. He LOVED his family so much. He loved going to Disneyland with them, even though they went countless times. He loved that place and would ride the rides over and over again. He also loved Hawaii and had been there three times. During the holidays, and other family gatherings, he loved telling his life experiences and making everyone laugh. He was a kid at heart and rarely acted his age; many of his favorite times were playing board games or video games with the kids. He loved playing card games too, especially Canasta. He was overjoyed when his family expanded. He became a father-in-law to Josh in September 2013 and a grandfather in October 2016 to twin granddaughters, Isabel and Ariella. Every time he saw his granddaughters' pictures, his eyes would tear up with joy. Every time Beatriz would tell him the girls did something new, he would have a huge smile on his face.

Tim Porter was a loving and proud husband and father and will always be remembered as a very positive, care-free person who enjoyed life, especially when it included his family.