On July 10, 2022, longtime Ocean City resident Anthony “Tony” D’Ottavio died peacefully at home in Troy, New York, surrounded by his children and caregivers. Tony lived for 102 years, a life marked by love and joy. He was a connoisseur of fine dining and spent a lifetime dedicated to eating right and keeping fit.
Born in 1920 in Guilianova, Abruzzo, Italy, nine month old Tony emigrated with his mother, Giacinta, while his father, Giovanni, who emigrated earlier in the year, waited for their arrival in Red Bank, New Jersey. He was a thirteen year old school dropout during the height of the Great Depression when he went to work as a busboy in South Philly where he grew up. He advanced to waiter, to captain, to Maître D’, to manager, and then to owner in restaurants throughout Philadelphia and ultimately in the early 1960s to central Pennsylvania where he brought fine dining and introduced the “Caesar Salad” to the Pennsylvania Dutch residents of York, Pa. There he was known affectionately as “Mr. Anthony” because his vowel-laden, unfamiliar surname was too unwieldy to pronounce.
As a young man in 1940 he attempted to enlist along with his buddies from South Philly to fight in the War but was rejected three times due to a heart murmur from a bout of rheumatic fever as a child.
Tony was an avid golfer (3 holes-in-one) sporting a single digit handicap, an aficionado of horseracing and a sharp as a whip poker player. He loved to go to the track with his friends and in fact, had a horse named after him, “Tony D”. The elusive truth is not really known as to whether the horse won any races but family lore has it that “Tony D” frequented the winners’ circle. Retired to Ocean City in the early 2000’s, Tony D’Ottavio was a regular at the nearby Atlantic City casinos where he was often seen making, as he called it, his “daily deposit”.
Tony wholeheartedly embraced life enjoying every minute with friends and family. Along with his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews, he gathered at annual family reunions to celebrate life often at his home in Ocean City.
He was a life-long Phillies and Eagles fan and even though he was often disappointed by his hometown teams, he never gave up hope that he would live long enough to witness another Philadelphia championship.
Divorced from the late Catherine Corcoran, Anthony D’Ottavio is survived by his children — Noreen McKee of Troy, Christine Dugdell of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Anthony of Margate, New Jersey. He had six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. He is pre-deceased by his son, John, and his son-in-law, Steve McKee.
A viewing will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19th at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Troy immediately followed by a mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Unity House of Troy.
