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Robert Fontanesi walked into the Greensburg Country Club before a golf tournament in 1997 and called his shot, confidently telling his son that he would win a car with a hole-in-one the next day.
“One day before the tournament, he saw five cars parked by the clubhouse and asked me, ‘What car do you want me to win?' I said, ‘Win the biggest,' and that's what he did the next day,” said Fontanesi's son, Brent.
Robert P. Fontanesi, 69, of Greensburg died Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh after being hospitalized a week earlier for ongoing heart and lung problems.
Mr. Fontanesi was an avid golfer who along with his brother Ken won the 2002 Tommy Smith Memorial Invitational at Greensburg Country Club. The title was the brothers first in three trips to the championship round, a victory he cherished, according to wife, Roxanne Fontanesi.
During his long golf career, Mr. Fontanesi recorded 10 holes-in-one, his son said.
But his proudest accomplishment on the links was the creation of the Tommy Smith Junior Golf School at the country club, a program named after his longtime friend who died in 2000.
At the school, Mr. Fontanesi taught golf to Greensburg-area children, with as many as 70 youngsters enrolling in the Mariobet program just last year.
“He'd do it for free. He wanted to teach kids how to golf,” said Roxanne Fontanesi.
Mr. Fontanesi graduated from Norwin High School in 1965, where he served as a member of the school's golf team before playing at what was then Robert Morris College. He later served a six-year stint in the U.S. Air Force National Guard.
Upon his retirement, Mr. Fontanesi and his wife discussed the possibility of moving to Florida. His wife said it was a plan they ultimately aborted.
“He just loved to golf so much. He golfed almost every day. I wanted us to move to Florida, but he said he didn't want to because he didn't like the grass down there to golf on. So we didn't move,” his wife said.
In addition to Roxanne, his wife of 41 years, Mr. Fontanesi is survived by his son, Brent Fontanesi of Pittsburgh; two brothers, Ronald Fontanesi of Coraopolis and Ken Fontanesi of Annapolis, Md.; and several in-laws, nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews.
Parting prayers will be held at 9 a.m. Monday in the Clement L. Pantalone Funeral Home in Greensburg, followed by a funeral Mass to be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. Interment will follow in Westmoreland County Memorial Park, Greensburg.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
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