Fritz Fontaine

Our father, Fritz Fontaine, passed away peacefully on May 7, 2014. He was 82 years old. Fritz was born to Inora Raphael Fontaine and Jean Fontaine on April 24, 1932, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He lived most of his life in New York and moved to Pembroke Pines, Florida, in 2008. On December 28, 1958, he married the love of his life, Hilda, and they had four children.

Fritz always wanted to serve his country so in 1959, he enrolled in the United States Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1963. He was always proud of the time he served and shared stories about his military assignments in Amarillo, Texas, and Garrison, Greenland, to name a few. In 2013, the American Legion provided him with a Certificate of Service for Honorable Service in the United States Armed Forces for outstanding service and loyalty to the United States.

Fritz was an intelligent man who took great passion in taking care of the sick. Although he started his career in the United States as Computer Operator and Statistical Assistant and later as a Senior Computer Operator for the League for Nursing and Chase Manhattan Bank, respectively, it was his work as a physician assistant that gave him the greatest joy. In addition to having a B.A. in Philosophy in Haiti, an AAS in Medical Science, and becoming a licensed Physician Assistant, he earned a second B.A. in Psychology at Touro College in New York City. Later, he earned a Masters in Science in the Community Health and Administration at Long Island University.

His extensive education and career earned him a prestigious membership into the American Academy of Physicians Assistants. In 1973, he began working as a Physician Assistant at B.S. Coler Memorial Hospital in Roosevelt Island, N.Y. for approximately 20 years. He then focused his specialty in cardiology and became a member of the Cardiology Department at SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he spent the remainder of his career until he retired in 2004.

In his spare time, Fritz would often challenge himself to computer games such as solitaire and Taipei. He loved reading, photography, firing up a grill for the "any occasion" weekend barbeque, and most of all spending time with his family. He valued in giving back to the community and the Church. His faith and belief of God was of paramount importance.

A devoted husband, father and grandfather, Fritz was also very active in the church and became a Eucharistic Minister at St. Bartholomew's Church after two years of lay ministries study. He was known as a man of integrity and a hard worker and passed these values on to his children. He worked very hard to ensure his children valued education and all attended and graduated from college. Fritz was very proud of his daughters and encouraged them to shoot for the stars.

He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Hilda Fontaine, along with four children; Brenda Fontaine of Jonesboro, Georgia; Audrey Addison, of Royal Palm Beach; Nadine Fontaine, of New York, New York, and Monique Ivey, of Half Moon, New York; 8 grandchildren, Francis Michael Fontaine, Candice Jones, Myles, Amanda, and Dominique Addison, Orville, Jr., Samantha, and Sydney Ivey; 2 son-in-laws, Peter Addison and Orville Ivey; sister-in-laws, Anite Coisman, Lucienne Previl and Bernadette Jean-Charles, brother-in-law Jean Coisman, and a countless number of relatives.

"Father, it's your love that safely guides me,

Always it's around me, night and day;

It shelters me, and soothes, but never chides me."

-Robert Bridges