It is with sorrowful hearts that we report the untimely death of a friend and maintainer of Wildlife, Robert [Bob] Fontana, fatally injured in an engagement with a Cape Buffalo in Tanzania, Africa on Saturday July 17th, 2004.
Bob Fontana, a mountain man all his life, arrived along with his twin sister Barbara, September 19th ,1957, at Natal B.C. and spent his colorful life in defense of our wildlife resource.
Bob received his formal education at Sparwood, his university training at Calgary and Vancouver, returning to the East Kootenay as a high school teacher at Sparwood in the early 80's. Bob's main passion though was his love for hunting and fishing and he entered into the guide and outfitting business in 1984.
The Kootenay's has had it's share of colorful men who search the rugged mountains for game, Robert Fontana will be remembered as one of them.
Bob was a remarkably capable hunter, always well dressed for the role, long limbed and handsome with a face so open and frank that he attracted attention in any crowd. Some lead, some follow. Bob was a natural leader, always with a sparkle in his eye, open for whatever might happen. Bob's spontaneous reactions in any given disagreement were celebrated around many burnt out campfires as were his skills as a mountain man and guide.
Robert Fontana, more clearly than any other, argued for a closer relationship with the guide/outfitter business and the resident hunter. During the early 1980's Bob was the president of the East Kootenay Wildlife Association, the regional arm of the B.C. Wildlife Federation. Bob later became the president of the Southern Guides and Outfitters and then the president of the Guide-Outfitters Association of B.C. In all his work, the conservation of wildlife was Bob's goal. In honor of his commitment to the Wildlife resource he was afforded many awards and accolades, provincially and internationally.
Bob will be eternally missed by all who knew him, we extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife Anna, his daughters Kaitlin and Callie and his twin sister, Barbara and her family.
Carmen Purdy
