It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of former longtime Tennis Coach, Richard "Dick" Fumanti.Coach Fumanti served the Servite and Rosary tennis communities for over two decades, leading the Friars to a CIF Championship in 2001 and multiple league titles before retiring in 2014. A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, August 23 at 11:00am at St. Nicholas Church in Laguna Woods with a lunch reception to follow.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Richard (Dick) Leonard Fumanti (aka Coach) of Laguna Woods, California died peacefully in his home at Ivy Park at Laguna Woods while watching television on Saturday, August 3, 2024. He was 94 years old, and although he had been receiving dialysis for the last 3 years, he lived a full and vibrant life until his final day, dying unexpectedly of unspecified cause.Dick was born in Exeter, Pennsylvania on May 18, 1930, to August and Josephine Fumanti. He attended Exeter schools where he played the euphonium in the high school band and, according to family stories, spent a lot of time in the pool hall and playing cards. He received a bachelor's degree in music education from Westchester State College and a master’s degree in conducting from Columbia University. He served in the US Navy and, under the Truman administration, played brass in the Navy band at interesting ports of call, including Cuba. He was an impactful music teacher and arts administrator in Washingtonville, Warwick, and Chester, New York for 31 years. In 1988 he retired to Orange County, California where he began a second 26-year career as an award winning tennis coach for Servite, a boys college prep high school in Anaheim, California, and for Rosary, a girls college prep high school in Fullerton, California. Dick was a man of many talents and interests, all self taught and inspired. He was a very good Contract Bridge player attaining Gold Life Master. He was a strong tennis player. He loved languages and was trilingual - English, Spanish, and Italian. He loved to explore new places and traveled extensively throughout the U.S.A., Mexico, Europe, and to South America. He was a horticulturalist, excellent at growing as well as identifying plants. He built his first house and was adept at home renovation/construction. He was very knowledgeable about history, politics, and the world and was a champion of the marginalized and oppressed, forever concerned about justice. Most importantly he was a loving husband, father, and grandfather and prayed for his family every day. He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Eleanor Mary O’Connor Fumanti of New York, his sister Louise Castellani, his brother Robert Fumanti, and his parents Josephine and August Fumanti all of Exeter, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his children Elizabeth Towle of Portland, Oregon; Richard Fumanti of Laguna Woods, California; and Janet Pfleeger of Alexandria, Virginia; and by his four grandchildren Stewart and Morgan Towle, and Katherine and Richard Pfleeger.