DONALD W. FANTOZZI, LTJG, USN
Donald Fantozzi '47
Lucky Bag
From the 1947 Lucky Bag:
Donald William Fantozzi
Oak Park, Illinois
"What a fantastic chow, George!" identified this fighting Illinois man. Next to queens, The Phantom's favorite topic of conversation was daily meals. Academics were not the only activities in which Don stood out, for he was always way above the crowd in P-rades. It wasn't hard to pick out his smiling face as he passed in review, bouncing along on his invisible pogostick. Through constant diligence, Don became a top member of the battalion squash team. For his swimming prowess he was curiously enough called The Rock. Through great effort he was able to pass those attempts at mass drowning known as swimming tests.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Donald William Fantozzi
Oak Park, Illinois
"What a fantastic chow, George!" identified this fighting Illinois man. Next to queens, The Phantom's favorite topic of conversation was daily meals. Academics were not the only activities in which Don stood out, for he was always way above the crowd in P-rades. It wasn't hard to pick out his smiling face as he passed in review, bouncing along on his invisible pogostick. Through constant diligence, Don became a top member of the battalion squash team. For his swimming prowess he was curiously enough called The Rock. Through great effort he was able to pass those attempts at mass drowning known as swimming tests.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
From The Oakland Tribune on July 13, 1950:
The pilot of a Navy F8-F Bearcat fighter plane which crashed into the ocean 10 miles off Point Reyes late yesterday was identified by the Navy today as Lieut. (j.g.) Donald William Fantozzi, 26, of 1545-D Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda.
The plane was on a routine training mission from Alameda Naval Air Station when it went into an uncontrolled spin. Fantozzi's wing man said he followed the plane down to 500 feet when it was lost in the fog.
Fantozzi, a member of Air Group 19, is presumed lost.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Donald graduated from Oak Park-River Forest Township High School. Lincoln (debate club) 3, 4; Masqueraders 2, Pres. 2; Lightweight Football 3; Fresh-Soph Baseball 2; Four Year Honor Roll.
He attended the University of Illinois for one year majoring in chemical engineering where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
He entered the Navy V-5 program in November 1942. In the spring of 1943, he enlisted in the naval air corps and had reported to Murray College in Kentucky for pre-flight training when he received his appointment to Annapolis.
In July 3, 1946, Donald and his girlfriend were strong-armed by two men they befriended, and Donald’s wallet was stolen. On July 3, 1947, Donald married Dorothy Jones Delosa in Norfolk, Virginia. However, the marriage only lasted eight months.
He served on the aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt and attended electronic material school, Treasure Island, California. In late 1949, Donald qualified by landing his Texan trainer six successive times aboard the carrier Cabot as she cruised in the Gulf of Mexico.
His father William was a violinist; his mother was Jenny Elvira Fantozzi. His parents were divorced.
His wife gave birth to their daughter, Donna Fae, on August 11, 1950 in the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, California.
Remembrances
From Oral History of Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. U.S. Navy (Retired) in 2009:
Admiral Crowe: … I had another roommate first-class year named Fantozzi. He was also a piece of work. He was an Italian boy from Chicago. His father was the head of a national symphony orchestra up in Chicago. One thing was overriding in his world. That was girls. He loved to chase girls. He was a very smart guy. He went to the University of Illinois and damn near flunked out. But he got to the Naval Academy, where we were regulated, so when he had to study he studied, and he did extremely well. But first-class year, June Week, there was a lot of partying going on. Graduation was the end of the week. He came in after a big drinking bout and, instead of going through the front door the way you’re supposed to, he knew he couldn’t get by there, so he climbed over a railing over the moat outside of Bancroft Hall to go in the window of a bedroom, and fell. Fell in the moat. Hit his head, got a concussion, and didn’t graduate for another month or two. They put him in the hospital, and then he got out and graduated. Later killed flying. But I can remember he fell that night in the moat.
I had a wonderful story about Fantozzi. I was in Washington one night on a weekend, and I met a Puerto Rican girl, very young—13 or 14, 15, maybe. Very attractive. I asked her if she’d ever seen the Naval Academy, and she said no, she’d never seen it. I said, “Well, why don’t you come down and see it?”
She said, “I can’t come down there, what are you talking about?” She said, “If you want me to come down there, write my mother.” So I wrote her mother. And I got a nice letter back from her mother that said, well, she’d be glad to have her come down, but she would be chaperoned by Ms. So-and-so, and she named the name of this woman, who was 30 years old, something like that. She could come down for the afternoon on Sunday if that would be all right. I said that’d be fine. So I asked Fantozzi to go with me.
They drove up in a convertible, and we introduced everybody around. I got in the back seat with the girl I’d met. This woman drove us to a bar that we knew of somewhere that we thought we could drink. She let the girl and me out to go in and drink beer. Then she drove Fantozzi into the woods and screwed him all afternoon.
Paul Stillwell: Some chaperone.
Admiral Crowe: That’s right. Then she came back and picked us up before we had to be in. The girl and I had a nice conversation. Fantozzi just fell into the whole thing. He had a talent for that sort of thing. I thought that was hilarious. That’s the kind of chaperone I was interested in.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
From the Chicago Tribune on July 14, 1950
Related Articles
John Guild '47, Frederick Sachse, Jr. '47, and John Switzer '47 were also in 19th Company.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
