Obituary for Anthony Trono
Anthony (Tony) Trono, 93, of Burlington, passed away peacefully on January 31, 2022 after a period of declining health. Tony was born on March 15, 1928, the son of Joseph Trono and Prudenza Russo, both of whom were immigrants from Italy.
In 1951 Tony met his future wife June at a sporting event. They fell in love and were married later that year. Tony and June raised four children together and remained happily married for 64 years until June's passing on August 11, 2015.
Tony graduated from BHS in 1946, the University of Vermont in 1950, and subsequently earned multiple Master's Degrees in both Secondary Education and Math Education. In the early 1950s, Tony served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and went on to begin his teaching career at Middlebury High School, where he taught mathematics. In the fall of 1960, Tony transferred to Burlington High School where he became the Math Department Chair and mathematics teacher, positions he held for thirty-two years before retiring in 1992.
During his career at BHS, Tony created what is now known as the Greater Burlington Math League, and guided the BHS team to multiple championships. It is interesting to note that in 1960 Tony taught a class in Fortran, which was the first high school computer programming class ever offered in the State of Vermont.
Throughout his teaching career and well into retirement, Tony and fellow mathematician Ken Gross developed and led a summer Math Camp at UVM, which later became part of the Governor's Institute, and then renamed in 2018 to "The Kenneth I. Gross and Anthony Trono Governor's Institute of Mathematical Sciences" in honor of its two co-founders. One of the highlights of Tony's career was coaching, mentoring, and preparing Vermont math students for a regionally-held, international math competition at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. He spent countless hours developing and preparing challenging math problems for the Math Talent Search, which was held annually for interested students throughout the State of Vermont. In recognition of his many years of achievements and successes with the Vermont Math Coalition, Congressman Bernard Sanders read and presented a Congressional Award on the U.S. Senate floor in 2008, entitled "A Winning Math Team and Their Dedicated Coach". Without question, Tony's unwavering devotion to Vermont mathematics for almost half a century is well-known and admired throughout Vermont. Tony loved the beauty, complexity, and logic of math, and he was grateful to share this with his students.
In 2013, Tony established and funded an award named "The Tony Trono Award for Excellence in Mathematics", where recipients are selected by BHS math teachers. The award is presented to a graduating student who has excelled in and out of the classroom in the field of mathematics, and who shows great promise in math, or a math-related field of study. Eight students have now received the generous award, which includes having their names engraved on the associated Tony Trono math award plaque residing at BHS. At the time this award program was established, a second award named "The Tony Trono Math League Award" was started for Math League students, where again the recipient is selected by BHS math teachers. As a retired teacher, Tony was pleased knowing that his awards continue to provide recognition of the recipient's math-related accomplishments. These awards do not end with Tony's passing. They will continue to be provided long into the future.
Tony was always a very devoted husband and father. Family activities were of the biggest priority, and favorites while the kids were growing up included camping at North Beach, evening outings to the drive-in movies, week-long trips to the Jersey shore, as well as day trips to Lake George, Radio City Music Hall, and theme parks. Tony's personal hobbies included bowling, golf, cards, cribbage, stamp and coin collecting, and making incredibly beautiful pine cone wreaths that look as good now as they did 50 years ago. Tony also enjoyed gardening, and seemed to always produce a large crop of beautiful tomatoes, which he generously shared with relatives, friends, and neighbors. In addition, Tony and June were very loyal fans of BHS sports, especially basketball and football. Tony ran the scoreboard at the basketball games, presumably to distance himself from June, who was well known by the fans for her antics of standing and shouting at the referees. On one occasion, she was embarrassed the next day to find a photo of herself in the Free Press, showing her at the game in full action mode. Tony and many others found the photo amusing.
Tony is survived by his four children, David Trono of Bethlehem, NH; Gary Trono and wife Karin of Essex Town; Kathy and partner John Deal of Burlington; Tim Trono and wife Carol of Costa Mesa, CA; two grandchildren, Amanda Morrill and Eric Trono; two step-grandchildren, Bridgette Robinson and David Neilsen; three great-grandchildren, Anthony Stem, Aiden Trono, and Carter Sargent-Trono; two step-great-grandchildren, Paloma and Joaquin Hernandez; and one brother, Benjamin Albert Trono of Burlington.
Tony was predeceased by his wife, June; two sisters and six brothers, Eva, Mary Pasana, Joseph, Louis, John, Michael, Guy, and George; one grandson, Matthew Trono; and one great-grandson, Michael Morrill.
Tony's funeral service, to be held at Saint John Vianney Church, will take place in late spring. He will be buried next to his beloved wife, June, in Resurrection Park Cemetery, South Burlington. Tony's online obituary can be viewed at the LaVigne Funeral Home website. In remembrance of Tony's life, please consider donating to a charity of your choice
In 1951 Tony met his future wife June at a sporting event. They fell in love and were married later that year. Tony and June raised four children together and remained happily married for 64 years until June's passing on August 11, 2015.
Tony graduated from BHS in 1946, the University of Vermont in 1950, and subsequently earned multiple Master's Degrees in both Secondary Education and Math Education. In the early 1950s, Tony served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and went on to begin his teaching career at Middlebury High School, where he taught mathematics. In the fall of 1960, Tony transferred to Burlington High School where he became the Math Department Chair and mathematics teacher, positions he held for thirty-two years before retiring in 1992.
During his career at BHS, Tony created what is now known as the Greater Burlington Math League, and guided the BHS team to multiple championships. It is interesting to note that in 1960 Tony taught a class in Fortran, which was the first high school computer programming class ever offered in the State of Vermont.
Throughout his teaching career and well into retirement, Tony and fellow mathematician Ken Gross developed and led a summer Math Camp at UVM, which later became part of the Governor's Institute, and then renamed in 2018 to "The Kenneth I. Gross and Anthony Trono Governor's Institute of Mathematical Sciences" in honor of its two co-founders. One of the highlights of Tony's career was coaching, mentoring, and preparing Vermont math students for a regionally-held, international math competition at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. He spent countless hours developing and preparing challenging math problems for the Math Talent Search, which was held annually for interested students throughout the State of Vermont. In recognition of his many years of achievements and successes with the Vermont Math Coalition, Congressman Bernard Sanders read and presented a Congressional Award on the U.S. Senate floor in 2008, entitled "A Winning Math Team and Their Dedicated Coach". Without question, Tony's unwavering devotion to Vermont mathematics for almost half a century is well-known and admired throughout Vermont. Tony loved the beauty, complexity, and logic of math, and he was grateful to share this with his students.
In 2013, Tony established and funded an award named "The Tony Trono Award for Excellence in Mathematics", where recipients are selected by BHS math teachers. The award is presented to a graduating student who has excelled in and out of the classroom in the field of mathematics, and who shows great promise in math, or a math-related field of study. Eight students have now received the generous award, which includes having their names engraved on the associated Tony Trono math award plaque residing at BHS. At the time this award program was established, a second award named "The Tony Trono Math League Award" was started for Math League students, where again the recipient is selected by BHS math teachers. As a retired teacher, Tony was pleased knowing that his awards continue to provide recognition of the recipient's math-related accomplishments. These awards do not end with Tony's passing. They will continue to be provided long into the future.
Tony was always a very devoted husband and father. Family activities were of the biggest priority, and favorites while the kids were growing up included camping at North Beach, evening outings to the drive-in movies, week-long trips to the Jersey shore, as well as day trips to Lake George, Radio City Music Hall, and theme parks. Tony's personal hobbies included bowling, golf, cards, cribbage, stamp and coin collecting, and making incredibly beautiful pine cone wreaths that look as good now as they did 50 years ago. Tony also enjoyed gardening, and seemed to always produce a large crop of beautiful tomatoes, which he generously shared with relatives, friends, and neighbors. In addition, Tony and June were very loyal fans of BHS sports, especially basketball and football. Tony ran the scoreboard at the basketball games, presumably to distance himself from June, who was well known by the fans for her antics of standing and shouting at the referees. On one occasion, she was embarrassed the next day to find a photo of herself in the Free Press, showing her at the game in full action mode. Tony and many others found the photo amusing.
Tony is survived by his four children, David Trono of Bethlehem, NH; Gary Trono and wife Karin of Essex Town; Kathy and partner John Deal of Burlington; Tim Trono and wife Carol of Costa Mesa, CA; two grandchildren, Amanda Morrill and Eric Trono; two step-grandchildren, Bridgette Robinson and David Neilsen; three great-grandchildren, Anthony Stem, Aiden Trono, and Carter Sargent-Trono; two step-great-grandchildren, Paloma and Joaquin Hernandez; and one brother, Benjamin Albert Trono of Burlington.
Tony was predeceased by his wife, June; two sisters and six brothers, Eva, Mary Pasana, Joseph, Louis, John, Michael, Guy, and George; one grandson, Matthew Trono; and one great-grandson, Michael Morrill.
Tony's funeral service, to be held at Saint John Vianney Church, will take place in late spring. He will be buried next to his beloved wife, June, in Resurrection Park Cemetery, South Burlington. Tony's online obituary can be viewed at the LaVigne Funeral Home website. In remembrance of Tony's life, please consider donating to a charity of your choice