Fred Romagnolo

1931 - 2022

Fred Romagnolo
November 17, 1931 - May 24, 2022
Mr. Fred Romagnolo was born on November 17, 1931 in San Francisco. His two great passions were teaching and the theater. He grew up during the Great Depression and the severe rationing of the World War II years, but his childhood glowed with fond memories in the sunny Mission District: family gatherings around the radio, weekly stints to the neighborhood movie house, his mother coming home in the evening with sweets from the bakery, roller skating in the streets.
Fred's debut on the stage came in 1948 at the San Francisco Municipal Theater. At age 16, he played a young Christian to be fed to the lions in George Bernard Shaw's "Androcles and the Lion." It was through the theater that he met many of his lifelong friends, colleagues, and co-conspirators.
A popular stage version of Ellen Wood's "East Lynne" had Fred playing the background music on his trusty portable keyboard organ, something he often did when not on stage. A jack-of-all-trades, he starred in, directed, designed costumes for, and composed and performed the music for countless productions, mostly at The Playhouse on Beach and Hyde, in the lively San Francisco theater scene of the 1950's and 60's.
One of his most memorable roles was that of Randall Utterwood in Shaw's "Heartbreak House," which ran an extraordinary six months, thanks to a rave review by the renowned Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. Among his many other roles were the Grand Inquisitor in Jean Giraudoux's "Ondine," the Doctor in Anton Chekov's "The Seagull," and the title character in Ben Jonson's "Volpone." His greatest role was as Argan, the lead in Molière's "Imaginary Invalid."
Fred was also an accomplished director. His adaptation of Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor," based on Arrigo Boito's libretto of Verdi's opera "Falstaff," was a critical success, as was his production of Shakespeare's "Richard II." Audiences were charmed by his production of Lerner and Lowe's "Brigadoon," performed in Chinatown by all Chinese American cast.
During his active involvement in the San Francisco theater scene, Fred also worked in record sales and the insurance industry. His lifelong regard for education inspired him to return to SF State University where he earned his teaching credential in 1962. He became an award-winning teacher, first at Roosevelt Junior High where he taught from 1962-1968.
In 1969, he led a summer program with the Foreign Study League, teaching a group of college students on site in Rome, Paris, Rotterdam, and Canterbury. He fondly remembers being feted as an American on the streets of Paris on July 21, 1969, the day after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, truly a celebration for all mankind.
Over the next 16 years, he taught courses in literature, history, and math at A.P. Giannini, where he was also the pioneer of a fledgling Humanities Program, as well as an instructor of early computer programming classes in the late 70's and early 80's. The last six years of his teaching career, from 1985-1991, were at Lowell High School, where he taught applied economics, world civilizations, and other courses in government and history. Throughout his career, he served as a master teacher and mentor for several junior instructors, passing the torch to a future generation of leaders in education.
Fred enjoyed his thirty-plus years of retirement in activities such as gardening, crossword puzzles, dog walks on his beloved Bernal Heights, and catching up with old actor friends. He also enjoyed traveling with his former student and longtime friend Joseph Sorensen, who took him on trips to world class cities. Together they enjoyed the sights, sounds, and flavors of Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and Philadelphia, as well as Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara, Japan.
Fred was fond of the Henry Adam's quote, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." His theater background no doubt contributed to the way he brought to life the historical subjects he covered in his classes. He regaled and inspired generations of students with his flair for the dramatic, on and off stage, and in and out of the classroom.
He passed away in his home on May 24, 2022. Memorial service TBA. Contact jsorensen@ucdavis.edu for event details.