Alumni Profile

Robert Fontaine '76

Five decades later, the friendships that began in Vance Hall remain one of Robert Fontaine’s favorite parts of his Central story.

As the Class of 1976 prepares to celebrate its 50th Reunion at Homecoming, Fontaine hopes his classmates will make the trip back to Central. “I hope my fellow classmates will attend Homecoming,” he says. “It provides an opportunity to reconnect and also an opportunity to see how the campus has grown and improved.”

When Bob thinks about his years at Central, he remembers a campus that offered the best of both worlds. “I felt that Central was a perfect size school,” he recalls. “I could always run into people I knew or hide from the world. My professors were always accessible and willing to support my academic success.” He lived on the third floor of Vance Hall for all four years, ran cross country and track under Coach Owen, served as editor-in-chief of The Inferno literary magazine, photographed for the 1976 Dial yearbook, and was a member of President James' Advisory Committee.

And then there were the friendships. Fontaine and his Vance Hall friends filled their college years with basketball in the quad, dorm-floor parties, football Saturdays, spring picnics and plenty of adventures around campus and New Britain. Fontaine also sported a large afro in those days, which earned him the nickname “Fro.”

After graduation, the group went their separate ways as careers, marriages and families took over. Remarkably, after nearly 35–40 years apart, they reunited at a gathering in Milford, CT. Today, the friends who met as Central students are once again a regular part of one another’s lives, staying connected through Zoom calls, annual picnics and vacations together.
Fontaine's Central education led to a long career in education. He spent 21 years at Bethel High School as a science teacher, successful track coach and Science Department Chair before moving into administration. In 1998, he joined Middletown High School, serving first as assistant principal and then as principal for 14 years. He retired in 2012 after a career dedicated to students and education. Running also remained an important part of his life. Fontaine competed in numerous races, including the Mount Washington Hill Climb and the 1982 New York City Marathon. He became a certified track and field official, coordinated officials for the 1995 Special Olympics World Games in New Haven, and even officiated at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Fontaine and his wife, Mary Ann, have been married for 41 years and have two children and two grandchildren.
Class of 1976, register today to join Bob and friends at your 50th Reunion.