Richard P. “Bunny” Fontaine, 87, of Worcester, died on Sunday, February 21st in Saint Vincent Hospital after an illness.

Mr. Fontaine is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 65 years, Lorraine J. (Gallant) Fontaine; 4 sons, Richard V. Fontaine of Charlton, Barry S. Fontaine and his wife Lynne of Cranston, RI, David M. Fontaine of Worcester and Steven P. Fontaine and his wife Jo of Auburn; 3 daughters, Diane N. Kozakiewicz and her husband Michael of Rochester, NY, Nancy J. Sorenson and her husband William of Charlton and Christine L. Case and her husband Daniel of Worcester; 2 sisters, Janice Oldham of Georgia and Joyce Bonney of Sudbury, MA; 17 grandchildren; 20 great grandchildren and many nephews and nieces.

Richard was born in Worcester, son of the late Arthur and Amy (Rayla) Fontaine and is also predeceased by a daughter in law, Constance Fontaine; and a great grandchild, Emma Fontaine; 2 brothers, Arthur and Robert Fontaine and a sister, Joan Lennon.

Richard ‘Bunny’ was a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy and also attended the College of the Holy Cross and Worcester Junior College. He worked at the Norton Company as a quality facilitator until his retirement in 1992. While at the Norton Company, he also worked as a continuing education teacher for the company employees.

Richard was a coach of the Lincoln Square Boy’s Club basketball team and also served as the athletic director at the Boy’s Club. He was the administrator of the Fun and Fitness Program at the former Our Lady of Fatima Church and was an assistant in the physical education department at North High School in Worcester for 10 years. In his earlier years Bunny enjoyed bowling, going for walks with ‘Andy’ and meeting with some of his friends playing cards on almost a weekly basis. Richard had a large family, and what was most important to him was his family. This was evident in the values that he passed along to his children.

The family would like to extend a special heartfelt thank you to David Heredia, and Janet Mapes from the VNA Care Network for the love, compassion and care that they showed to Richard. The Family would also like thank Dr. Honig and Dr. Black for all their care throughout the years.

The funeral will be held on Thursday, February 25th from the Alfred Roy & Sons Funeral Home 12 Hammond St. with a Mass at 10:30 AM in St. Bernard Church 228 Lincoln St. Burial will follow in Worcester County Memorial Park, Paxton. Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, February 24th from 5 to 8 PM in the funeral home. Memorial donations in memory of Mr. Fontaine may be made to the American Kidney Fund 11921 Rockville Pike, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852.