Educator/Coach. He was a community icon, a one-time player, coach and athletic director who made a name for himself in a career in scholastic sports that spanned nearly 50 years. A football standout at Lewis High School, he graduated in 1927 and headed off to college. He attended Fordham University and later transferred to Trinity College. After graduating from Trinity, he returned to Lewis High School as a teacher and coach. His players became known as "Fontanamen" and Fontana became known by his nicknames, "The Grey Fox" and "The Fountain." He stepped down as football coach in 1954, but stayed on as the high school baseball coach and the school system's athletic director. A biology teacher until the late 1960s, he spent the remainder of his years at SHS as athletic director for the school system. He retired in the spring of 1979 after a 47-year career. For his years of service – and the notoriety it in turn brought Southington – Coach Fontana was bestowed nearly every community- and sports-related award possible, including the 1948 UNICO Gold Medal of Honor. The sports complex at SHS was named in his honor in 1972, two years before construction on the new high school facility on Pleasant Street was even complete. A founder of the National High School Coaches' Association and the Connecticut High School Coaches' Association, he was inducted into the High School Coaches' Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1984, the state coaches' association he helped create began presenting its Distinguished Service Award in his honor.
Educator/Coach. He was a community icon, a one-time player, coach and athletic director who made a name for himself in a career in scholastic sports that spanned nearly 50 years. A football standout at Lewis High School, he graduated in 1927 and headed off to college. He attended Fordham University and later transferred to Trinity College. After graduating from Trinity, he returned to Lewis High School as a teacher and coach. His players became known as "Fontanamen" and Fontana became known by his nicknames, "The Grey Fox" and "The Fountain." He stepped down as football coach in 1954, but stayed on as the high school baseball coach and the school system's athletic director. A biology teacher until the late 1960s, he spent the remainder of his years at SHS as athletic director for the school system. He retired in the spring of 1979 after a 47-year career. For his years of service – and the notoriety it in turn brought Southington – Coach Fontana was bestowed nearly every community- and sports-related award possible, including the 1948 UNICO Gold Medal of Honor. The sports complex at SHS was named in his honor in 1972, two years before construction on the new high school facility on Pleasant Street was even complete. A founder of the National High School Coaches' Association and the Connecticut High School Coaches' Association, he was inducted into the High School Coaches' Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1984, the state coaches' association he helped create began presenting its Distinguished Service Award in his honor.
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