Montauk Pioneer - October 31, 2008

Montauk took a big loss last week. Angelo Monte Sr., Senior Vice President of Gurney's Inn Resort, Spa and Conference Center and decorated World War II, D-Day Hero, passed away last Thursday. He was born above his family's restaurant in Brooklyn in 1919 and was raised in the restaurant business. That restaurant was the Monte's Venetian Room, which his parents, Angelo and Filomena, started in 1906. He was one of seven Monte boys, five of whom worked in the family business. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he joined the Army and was assigned to the 29th infantry division, where he fought for the freedom of this country and the world. He and his division were among the first wave of troops to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day morning. With more than 65% of the troops killed on the beaches of Normandy that day, it seems like a miracle that his life was spared and he made it home alive. Upon his return his father handed him an apron and told him "You are the night bartender." He held that post and the job of night manager at the restaurant for the next 22 years. He developed a devout and loyal following that included politicians, entertainers, gangsters and just plain neighborhood folks. Many of those same people came to visit him in Montauk.

Angelo Monte Sr. defined hospitality as a family tradition, passed on from one generation to another. He felt this way in order to establish and reinforce a strong sense of identity. He, along with his late wife Gladys, were the ultimate hosts, welcoming countless friends, acquaintances and even strangers into their home for family dinners and informal gatherings. They always instilled in all five of their children the idea that hospitality is a way of life not just something reserved for special guests or special occasions. This tradition lives on today through his children. Through the years, Angelo Monte Sr. supported his brother Nick Monte, the family business and our close family with his strong work ethic, ever-present smile and dedication to perfection.

His key to maintaining a successful family business has been the blending of his family's business-of-living with his family's living-of-business, indeed a learned process. In order to understand the enormity and the success of his juggling act, one simply needed to watch him on any given morning, when he graciously welcomed guests and hugged one of his kids or grandchildren at the same time. "United We Stand - Divided We Fall" is his longstanding advice for a family in business.

Angelo Monte Sr. was a humanist more than anything else. He never lectured or talked down to others. He was a leader and a superb manager. He never thought of himself as better, or smarter than anyone else. He found common ground with senators and soldiers, scientists and ordinary folks, a people person to the very core of his being. It seems only right and fitting that Gurney's Inn dedicated their beautiful Sea Grille dining room, where every table is perfectly dressed, to a man who dressed himself impeccably every day. This magnificent venue of gracious hospitality is owed to a man who lived and breathed and epitomized hospitality. He will be deeply missed.