The Throggs Neck community says goodbye to a devoted community man, Fiorellio “Fred” Todino, this past Christmas at age 84.
Fred Todino woke up Christmas morning, said “Merry Christmas,” and then died peacefully after spending Christmas eve with his wife, five children, and 23 grandchildren.
“He was a devoted family man, a man of honor, a man of his word, and a selfless, hard-working and loyal man,” says Fred’s first grandchild, Dianna Todino.
Fred Todino lived to give back to his community, the Throggs Neck community, and it is going to be very different there without him. St. Frances de Chantal’s Parish did not separate the school and church into different buildings until they fundraised to build a new church in 1970, which Fred helped construct. Once the church was built, he didn’t stop giving. He decided to become a Eucharistic Minister there once every Sunday.
Additionally, Fred and his first wife, Mary Todino, who passed away in 1995 due to breast cancer, were in charge of the catholic charities, which provided food to families in need. This food included turkeys during Thanksgiving to those who were not able to provide one for themselves.
The community’s children used to have no choice but to hang out on the streets until Fred built the Throggs Neck Little League field, which gave children the opportunity to stay off the streets from the spring to fall. This little league not only kept children out of trouble in the streets, but also taught them the meaning of teamwork and sportsmanship. This field continues to be a staple in the Throggs Neck community today.
“All the kids in the little league, they looked up to him because he gave everyone a fair chance,” says Fred’s wife, Rosalie Spata-Ponzo, “He didn’t just use the top players, he used the bottom of the barrel.”
“During the school year, he also started a teenage center to give the kids something to do on the weekends instead of being on the streets and getting in trouble. "It actually still goes on today,” says his third son, Christopher Todino.
He adds, “He started a boxing club too, in the auditorium downstairs of St. Frances de Chantal and once a month we would have boxing club.”
Fred started his own construction company with a dump truck and compressor that he bought on credit the day after Christopher was born, and he used his business not only to provide for his family, but to also give back to his community. He built the little league field with this company by helping put up the building there and digging the foundation for it with his own equipment on his own time. All of the sewers and curbs along the field were also done by his company. He would fix up things for needy families who did not have the money to do so on their own. He also plowed the entire St. Frances de Chantal Parish, parking lot, and school yard for free when it snowed and when he could no longer do it himself, his children continued this legacy for about 50 years.
According to his wife, son, and granddaughter, Fred did so much for the community because the community gave him a stable, loving, and safe place to raise his family. “He gave to the community and the community gave back to his family,” says Christopher.
If you ask Dianna what Fred’s advice would be to the Throggs Neck community today, it would be, “to give back to your community, respect it and each other, take care of it and each other and don’t forget where you came from. He would say that although he was in a ‘shitty’ business, someone has to do it. And it may not always be easy to do the right thing for your community, but everyone has to do it because as long as everyone sticks together and keeps good within the community, it will always be the greatest place to live.” She adds, “Throggs Neck wouldn’t be where it is today without him, so it is our job to continue giving to it, in memory of Fred.”
