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Francis “Gene” Eugene Romano

Francis “Gene” Eugene Romano '49

Nov. 29, 1928-Jan. 7, 2023

Francis “Gene” Eugene Romano ’49, GP’08,’16, a precocious entrepreneur devoted to his hometown and Hamilton in equal measure, died on Jan. 7, 2023, in Utica, N.Y.

Born on Oct. 29, 1928, Gene attended Utica’s public schools and came to Hamilton from Mt. Assumption High School in Plattsburgh, N.Y. He displayed an early affinity for business when, at age 12, he sold The New York Times on Sunday mornings in front of Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Utica’s Genesee Street where, with its several Masses, he could count on a steady stream of potential customers. Later, he undertook home delivery of The Times, a business he soon sold in the first of many commercial deals that would mark his career. Other early initiatives included selling bananas on a street corner and, when the weather was warm, fishing rods. As a Hamilton junior, he peddled mistletoe during the Christmas season in 1948.

As a student at Utica Free Academy, Gene played jazz piano in local venues in a style that emulated the great stride pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller. He regularly performed with leading jazz musicians who passed through town and was good enough to earn three times the minimum wage of 30 cents an hour. This extracurricular endeavor proved a major distraction from his studies, and his concerned father sent him away to complete his secondary education at Mt. Assumption, where he boarded and was closely supervised by the Brothers of Christian Instruction who oversaw the school. 

Gene arrived on the Hill, properly prepared, at age 16. The experience would be transformative. A member of Delta Upsilon fraternity, he majored in history and chemistry, both subjects that would profoundly affect his future. By his own account, his studies with Professor David Maldwyn Ellis ’38 on the history of New York State were life-changing: “His lectures influenced my life more than all others on the Hill. He brought to life the spirit and development of the Mohawk Valley, which he and I loved so much. I took three American history courses from David and was probably most influenced by a course on American economic history. That course taught me never to forget the many changes that course through the American economic bloodstream — always related to the valleys of the Mohawk, Hudson, Oriskany, and Sauquoit [rivers].” 

At the end of fall semester his junior year, Gene detoured from Hamilton and made his way to Miami, where he worked as a jazz pianist in several clubs. He later moved to New York City where he played at Nick’s, a leading nightclub in Greenwich Village, and other venues. He returned to Utica determined to rejoin his class at Hamilton. Dean Tolles made him an offer: take summer courses at Utica College, excel academically, and then be permitted to return to the Hill. Gene met the high bar, ultimately graduating in 1950, but throughout his life he proudly maintained his affiliation with the Class of 1949 with which he matriculated.

Gene entered the Army in March 1951 and was assigned to the Airborne Artillery, but not before he married Madelyn G. Bartleson on July 24, 1950. They had two sons and a daughter. Honorably discharged in December 1951 with the rank of staff sergeant, Gene went to work buying steel and managing one of the departments for Utica Drop Forge, a leading supplier of jet engine turbine parts. During the almost four years he worked for the company, he acquired sufficient expertise in nickel-based alloys, a key material used in jet engines, that he became an advisor to the National Munitions Board during the Korean War. 

With an entrepreneur’s eye, he realized there was no wholesale steel distributor in the greater Utica area and set out to fill the void. In 1956, at the age of 27, he founded Pacemaker Steel Warehouse, Inc., a distributor and processor of steel and aluminum for the manufacturing, fabricating, and tool-and-die businesses in the Mohawk Valley. By 1978, after several mergers and acquisitions had enlarged his business, it became the Pacemaker Steel and Industrial Supply, Inc., and thereafter Pacemaker Steel and Piping. Later he opened a branch in Binghamton, N.Y., that provided comparable services to manufacturers located in New York’s Southern Tier and Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Concurrently, Gene engaged in other ventures. He entered the hospitality industry, acquiring in 1972 what would become under his management the Radisson Ambassador Plaza Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also pursued an interest in, if not outright ownership of, apartment housing, office buildings, shopping centers, several large tracts of timber (much of it in the Western Adirondacks), and a short pipeline linking a natural gas field in the Finger Lakes to a major gas transmission pipeline in Auburn, N.Y., among other ventures.

His first marriage ended in divorce. Gene married Jeanne Ulrich Scully on Aug. 21, 1967, blending a family that included his three children with her two. Jeanne died of cancer in 1994. Eight years later, Gene married Loretta Massoud, who survives him.

Gene’s success as a businessman was accompanied by his lifelong sense of commitment to the Mohawk Valley, where much of that success took place. Recalling Professor Ellis’s courses on the economic history of the area, Gene was determined to ensure the area would flourish economically, even as he watched national corporations downsize or depart. His approach, while perhaps unusual, was grounded in an unassailable logic: in order for the Mohawk Valley to flourish, the entrepreneurial impulses of students from the area had to be cultivated in its colleges, both Utica and Hamilton. 

Gene’s generosity to both schools was extraordinary. He became one of Utica College’s greatest benefactors. Among the many hallmarks of Gene’s dedication to Hamilton was his $1 million gift in 1999 on the occasion of the 50th reunion of the Class of 1949, to establish the F. Eugene Romano Entrepreneurs Fund, providing financial aid to students who came from communities within 10 miles of Utica and who planned to stay and work in the area after graduating. In 2007, he donated $2.5 million to construct the Romano Theatre, the larger of the two theatres in the Kennedy Center for Theatre and the Studio Arts. Gene was a lifelong fan of the theatre, even investing in several of Neal Simon’s plays and several Broadway musicals. His annual contributions to the Hamilton Fund were generous, as were his contributions to several capital campaigns. In 1996, he became a charter member of the Joel Bristol Associates, which recognizes donors who plan gifts through their estates.

Beyond supporting the area’s two colleges, Gene established a scholarship fund at the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties with the same objective: supporting the collegiate education of students in those counties who planned to become active business leaders and community citizens in the area. He donated a significant sum to the New Hartford Public Library to fund the construction of the Jeanne L. Romano Annex, the final phase of the library’s construction. Because the Boys Club of Utica had been so important to Gene growing up, he generously supported what became the Boys & Girls Club of Utica for many years. His company, Pacemaker Steel and Piping, was the major sponsor of its annual golf outing. He also underwrote the renovation of a part of Utica’s Stanley Theater, supported the Utica Symphony, and served on the board of directors of the Oversight Committee for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital where he was a major donor to the renovation and expansion of its emergency department. He supported numerous other charitable organizations in countless ways.

Reflecting upon Hamilton’s impact upon his life and career in his 50th reunion yearbook, Gene wrote: “I hold my head high because I am so proud of Hamilton, which taught me to listen, analyze, and do my duty. A school that broadened my horizons. A school that imbued a belief that a good undertaking was always worthwhile and would succeed. Best of all, I value the camaraderie. I will always be one of ‘thy boys.’”

F. Eugene Romano is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son, and numerous grandchildren, including Katherine Ribble Newby ’08 and Michael Romano ’16.

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