{"id":57251,"date":"2023-10-05T11:35:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T18:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=57251"},"modified":"2023-10-05T14:29:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T21:29:08","slug":"supplies-industry-mourns-passing-of-gene-fontana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2023\/10\/supplies-industry-mourns-passing-of-gene-fontana\/","title":{"rendered":"Supplies Industry Mourns Passing of Gene Fontana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Gene Fontana<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gene Fontana, 71, a warm and colorful figure who was well known throughout the imaging supplies circle, passed away Sept. 30 following a courageous two-year battle with an undisclosed illness, according to longtime friend and business partner Tom Ghyczy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Fontana was a \u201cmentor and coach in our industry\u201d and a pioneer in the third-party imaging supplies world, according to Ghyczy. His jovial nature never masked the fact that he had a massive knowledge base and an uncanny ability to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGene had a gregarious personality, always had a story or joke to tell,\u201d said Ghyczy, who worked alongside Mr. Fontana at Royal Imaging for 22 years and is currently Director of Global Sales for ACM Technologies. \u201cThere was a lot of substance behind his capabilities\u2014he wasn\u2019t all flash and sorbet-colored suits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2016 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker, Mr. Fontana began his career with Bic Pen Corp. in 1975, and four years later was transferred to Los Angeles, the company\u2019s second largest territory in the country. Named Salesman of the Year in 1980, he joined National Pen in 1982 as a consultant, and three years later started a company representing a manufacturer of compatible toners. Mr. Fontana would later become a founding partner in aftermarket components distributor Future Graphics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had reps throughout the United States placing the product in office supply dealers,\u201d Mr. Fontana told ENX Magazine <\/em>in 2016. \u201cIn 1988, [Future Graphics founder] Robert Goldstein offered me a partnership to assimilate the compatible laser toner cartridges that had naturally grown out of the compatible copier toner market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving Future Graphics, he did a stint with ACM Technologies before joining Ghyczy as a partner at Royal Imaging. In January of 2021, Royal Imaging was sold to ACM Technologies, after which Mr. Fontana retired to focus on his health and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENX Magazine<\/em> Publisher Susan Neimes recalled how Mr. Fontana could always be counted on to make her laugh. \u201cIt seemed that at the end of every call, he had a joke ready to tell,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was an amazing person and a big personality in the supplies world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ghyczy observed, \u201cIf you knew the guy, you liked him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is survived by a son, Anthony; a daughter, Danea; eight grandchildren; and Rhonda Rios, his partner for more than 15 years. Memorial services have not been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gene Fontana, 71, a warm and colorful figure who was well known throughout the imaging supplies circle, passed away Sept. 30 following a courageous two-year battle with an undisclosed illness, according to longtime friend and business partner Tom Ghyczy. Mr. Fontana was a \u201cmentor and coach in our industry\u201d and a pioneer in the third-party imaging supplies world, according to Ghyczy. His jovial nature never masked the fact that he had a massive knowledge base and an uncanny ability to sell. \u201cGene had a gregarious personality, always had a story or joke to tell,\u201d said Ghyczy, who worked alongside Mr. Fontana at Royal Imaging for 22 years and is currently Director of Global Sales for ACM Technologies. \u201cThere was a lot of substance behind his capabilities\u2014he wasn\u2019t all flash and sorbet-colored suits.\u201d A 2016 ENX Magazine Difference Maker, Mr. Fontana began his career with Bic Pen Corp. in 1975, and four years later was transferred to Los Angeles, the company\u2019s second largest territory in the country. Named Salesman of the Year in 1980, he joined National Pen in 1982 as a consultant, and three years later started a company representing a manufacturer of compatible toners. Mr. Fontana would later become a founding partner in aftermarket components distributor Future Graphics. \u201cI had reps throughout the United States placing the product in office supply dealers,\u201d Mr. Fontana told ENX Magazine in 2016. \u201cIn 1988, [Future Graphics founder] Robert Goldstein offered me a partnership to assimilate the compatible laser toner cartridges that had naturally grown out of the compatible copier toner market.\u201d After leaving Future Graphics, he did a stint with ACM Technologies before joining Ghyczy as a partner at Royal Imaging. In January of 2021, Royal Imaging was sold to ACM Technologies, after which Mr. Fontana retired to focus on his health and family. ENX Magazine Publisher Susan Neimes recalled how Mr. Fontana could always be counted on to make her laugh. \u201cIt seemed that at the end of every call, he had a joke ready to tell,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was an amazing person and a big personality in the supplies world.\u201d As Ghyczy observed, \u201cIf you knew the guy, you liked him.\u201d He is survived by a son, Anthony; a daughter, Danea; eight grandchildren; and Rhonda Rios, his partner for more than 15 years. Memorial services have not been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":57254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57251"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57267,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57251\/revisions\/57267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}