Bob Fanto

Retired Baltimore County Guidance Counselor

Robert F. Fanto, a retired guidance counselor, died April 4, 2012 peacefully at home. He was 80 years old.

The son of a B&O machinist, Dayton J. Fanto, and a homemaker, Evelyn Dixon Fanto, Bob was born in Cumberland, Maryland and was raised in Piedmont and Keyser, West Virginia.

He graduated from Keyser High in 1949, and joined the Navy from 1949-1953, serving as a radioman for the Commander of the Second Fleet during the Korean Conflict. He attended Potomac State College and West Virginia University, earning AA, BA, and MA degrees in Social Studies, English and Counseling, graduating in 1957.

He began teaching in New Richmond, Ohio, and developed their guidance department from 1957 to 1963. He moved to Baltimore County in 1963 and was a counselor at Parkville Middle, General John Stricker High, and Dulaney High School. He was the head of Dulaney’s guidance department for 21 years, retiring in 1991.

He was known for his sense of humor and his outgoing personality. When he retired, his supervisor, Roland Savage, wrote him, saying that he appreciated his professional candor: “If what we in guidance thought might be an eagle turned out to be “Howard the Duck,” we could count on you to call it a duck, give us reasons why it was, and offer suggestions on how to get the project to fly more like an eagle.’

Mr. Fanto never regretted turning down administrative positions, for he felt helping students was rewarding, and he felt he could best contribute his talents in guidance and counseling.

He and his wife of 54 years, Elizabeth Cuppett Fanto, taught and took classes at The Renaissance Institute at Notre Dame of Maryland University for over ten years, and he currently served as Vice President.

He served on many educational committees, and after retiring, he worked as a volunteer for the National Emergency Medical Association and for GBMC for ten years. He was a ham radio operator (WAEHJY), held a first-class certificate and worked with the Baltimore Amateur Club as a member and volunteer.

He was an actor in plays at Theatre Hopkins, on Homicide, and in commercials His hobbies included photography, piano, amateur radio, teaching literature and reading. He recently began writing prose and haiku. His wife wrote this haiku for him:

now that he’s gone

my Technicolor world—

black and white

In addition to his wife, Elizabeth, Mr. Fanto is survived by two sons, Mark Fanto of Cockeysville, MD and Dr. Stephen Fanto of Lewes, Delaware, his brother John R. Fanto of Rawlings, MD, and by one granddaughter, Katelyn, and five grandsons, Derek, Craig, Kevin, Christopher and Nicholas Fanto.

The family will receive friends in the LEMMON FUNERAL HOME OF DULANEY VALLEY INC. 10 W. Padonia Road (at York Road) Timonium, MD 21093 on Friday, 2-4 & 7-9pm. A Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated in the funeral home on Saturday, April 7 at 11am. Interment Private. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be sent to The Renaissance Institute, c/o Notre Dame of Maryland University, 4701 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21210 or The Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital, 7501 Osler Drive, Suite 203, Towson, MD 21204.