Louis A. Fazzano

1921 - 2019

FAZZANO, LOUIS A.
98, a prominent, Rhode Island business and community leader, died on November 18, 2019. He was a resident of Newport, RI. He was married to the late Judith Grimes Fazzano for more than 50 years.
He had been, for many years, Treasurer and a Director of the Imperial Knife Company from which he retired in 1983.
Mr. Fazzano remained active after his retirement. He was Director of the Rhode Island Department of Economic Development from 1985 through 1988; President of the Rhode Island Hospital, 1989 - 1990; and President of the Rhode Island School of Design, 1992 – 1993. In 1995 he became President of the HELP Coalition and remained in that capacity until September 2003, when the coalition dissolved.
Long active at Rhode Island Hospital and Chairman of its Board after having served as President, he is credited with having initiated the talks, which led to the joining of the Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Hospital. The present Lifespan Health System is the outgrowth of that merger.
He was a Trustee of the Newport Hospital for many years and Chairman of its Board, 2006 – 2007 and 2009.
In addition to his work in the health care field, Mr. Fazzano was an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Rhode Island School of Design. For many years he was associated with Citizens Bank as a Trustee of the Savings Bank and as a Director of Citizens Financial Group.
Mr. Fazzano was Chairman of the Catholic Charity Fund Appeal in 1973 and a member of the Executive Committee of the Appeal. He was honored as a Knight of Malta and a Knight in the Order of St. Gregory.
Previously, he served on the Boards of Gladdings, Inc., The Outlet Company, and Fort, Inc. He was a Trustee of the Wheeler School and had been a Director of many organizations including the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, The Narragansett Council of Boy Scouts of America, The National Conference of Christians and Jews (now National Council of Community and Justice), Junior Achievement of Rhode Island and the Providence Athenaeum. In Newport he was a Board member of the Preservation Society of Newport County, Seaman's Church Institute and the Newport Public Library.
He was a Trustee of the Industrial Foundation of Rhode Island for several years and its Chairman from 1973 to 1976. He also had been a member of the Board of Governors of the Rhode Island Commodores for many years.
He was a past President of the Hope Club and The Clambake Club of Newport. He was a member of the University Club, the Newport Reading Room and the Spouting Rock Beach Association.
Mr. Fazzano graduated from Cranston High School and Yale University, magna cum laude. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and he was a past President of the Yale Association of Rhode Island. He was a graduate of the 12-month military officers curriculum at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
During World War 11, he served in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant.
He is survived by a son, Nicholas Grimes Fazzano of Providence, and two daughters, Joanne (Jody) Rutledge Fazzano and her husband Joe Gibson of East Providence and Mary Louise Dickinson Fazzano and her husband Jorge Garcia-Garcia of Newport and his grandchildren, Woody Fazzano and Kelsey Gibson.
The family wishes to thank Arline, Maureen, Rosemary, Zeila and Philip for their long and loving assistance to Louis. The family also wishes to thank the team at All about Home Care in recent months as well as Village House and Hope Hospice for their assistance most recently.
The funeral will be held Friday at 9am from the Monahan, Drabble & Sherman Funeral Home, 230 Waterman Street Providence with a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Joseph Church, Hope Street in Providence at 10am. Burial will be in Swan Point Cemetery. Calling hours Thursday from 4 to 7. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to a charity of your choice. www.monahandrabblesherman.com