Dr. Anthony Cottone

Dr. Anthony ("Tony") Joseph Cottone

Largo - Dr. Anthony ("Tony") Joseph Cottone died January 13, 2021, in Largo, Florida from congestive heart failure and complications from diabetes, with Janet, his beloved wife of 61 years, at his side. He was 88 years old.

Throughout his life, Tony valued friendliness and being "personable" and loved to share a meal, talk things over with a student, play a game of poker or dominoes, or just tell stories. Many will remember Tony with a twinkle in his eye, a smile on his face, and an outstretched hand. A devoted husband, father, teacher, counselor, and friend, Tony worked hard and supported those who needed him—always.

Tony was born amid the Great Depression in Mingo Junction, Ohio, to parents Eugene and Angeline Cottone, and was the oldest of eight children. In 1941, the family moved to Clairton, Pennsylvania, a small town outside Pittsburgh. At the age of 18, Tony swam across the Monongahela River with a friend, just to see if he could. After high school, Tony joined the US Navy and served four years, during the Korean War, as an airplane mechanic aboard the USS Essex aircraft carrier—surviving shipboard fires and a near-miss collision with another ship. Tony worked as a millwright at US Steel and then attended California State Teachers College—the first person in his family to earn a college degree.

Tony met the love of his life, Janet Hornick, while working in a butcher shop in California, Pennsylvania. Inseparable for the rest of their lives, Tony and Janet raised four children in Delaware and traveled up and down the East coast with the family - from Canada to Miami - in a pink pop-up camper.

A lifelong educator, Tony started teaching at Newark High School in Delaware in 1959 and over the years taught technical drafting, architectural drafting, metalworking, and the popular "shop math," which he introduced. Inspired by conversations with students over projects they were working on, Tony moved into Guidance at Newark in the 1970s and then to Hodgson Vo-Tech High School in the 1980s and early 90s, continuing to innovate educational programs and forge lifelong friendships along the way. The Friday night poker club of teachers and fellow counselors, a decades-long tradition, was the stuff of legend.

Student as well as teacher, Tony earned a Master's degree from the University of Delaware, a PhD from Temple University, and "read anything he could get his hands on" from youth to old age. Tony loved wine-making and the great outdoors, especially when hunting, fishing, shooting arrows, gardening, or playing golf. Tony and Janet traveled with friends to the West Coast, Alaska, and Italy, before retiring to Myrtle Beach and Florida.

Tony is survived by his wife, Janet, his four children, Andrea Cottone (Mark Kelly), Deborah Cottone-Todd (John Todd), Daniel Cottone (Sam Fazio), and Rachel Cottone (Charles Hwang). He is also survived by five grandchildren, Carly Todd (Scott Dickson), Brian Anthony Todd (Irina Frampolsky), Erin Todd, Phoebe Cottone Hwang, and Kyra Cottone Hwang, as well as two great-grandchildren, James and Grace.

Tony was preceded in death by his father, Eugene, and his mother, Angeline, as well as his brother, Frank, and sister, Carmel. He is survived by his sister Joann Geary (Jack Geary), brother Eugene "Yudge" Cottone (Bonnie Cottone), sister Mary Ann Melani (Robert Melani), brother James Cottone (Dorothy Smoyer), and brother Robert Cottone (Cyndee Cottone).

A celebration of Tony's life will be held in Myrtle Beach, where Tony and Janet enjoyed so many years of their retirement, at a time to be determined (following the COVID crisis). In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Tony Cottone may be sent to vfw.org or donorschoose.org