von Fokolar-Gemeinschaft Ottmaring am 14.12.2020 - 09:11 Uhr | melden
I first met Siegfried Hitzler in 1980-1981 when as a “focolarino” in training (so to speak) at Loppiano, Fonte came passing through after having attended a meeting in Rome. We did not speak but immediately, I had the impression of a kind-hearted and good-natured person. He was unassuming and happy.
About a year later, I too moved to the United States, specifically to Los Angeles and was blessed to have Fonte as my Capo-focolare during the years 1987-1989 (for approximately 2.5 years). My first impressions from my Loppiano days were reconfirmed. Fonte had a large heart, he loved everyone and enjoyed life. He was also very pure and humble person, and nothing ruffled him. He was friends with everyone which included his daily breakfast group with whom he met after 7:00am mass to “celebrate breakfast” during the weekdays before going to the office. This was repeated every Saturday morning when after 8:00am mass in our local parish, Fonte would gleefully look at each one of us, clap his hands together and exclaim “popi, let’s celebrate breakfast.” And true enough that is what we did. The same disposition also was part of his regular canasta games, especially on weekends or during days of rest. His enthusiasm for the game and his friendly disposition was always a source of entertainment and joy. He could not hold a straight face during the game and when his opponent, or worst still his team member, played a card that was useful to him, he become all bubbly on his seat. Moreover, the rules of the game varied continuously with new rules being invented each game if it facilitated his play. We laughed a lot and people enjoyed being around him and being entertained by him.
His love of Chiara Lubich and her ideal of unity was notable, and he really was a “popo” of Chiara in the truest sense of the word. I never saw him sad and he always viewed things positively. For example, one day, one of our “volunteers” inadvertently made a negative comment about the music in supermarkets, not knowing that Fonte had worked for Muzak Corporation for many years where he designed the electronic instruments for the satellites that transmitted the music to a vast number of stores and businesses throughout the United States. Fonte looked at this volunteer with great simplicity and explained how he was helping humanity (i.e. the supermarket customers) live the “green”, and he said it with such conviction that you knew that for him it was so.
On another occasion, Fonte designed a telephone device at home in the Focolare to help filter unwanted calls, whereby one would hear a second dial tone requiring that you submit a code before the phone rang on the other end. This project dragged on for months because Fonte was trying to help-out an old colleague who had “invented” the idea but did not have the technical skills to produce the product. Unfortunately, just as the product was ready to go to the market, the internet and cellphones were invented that made his (analogue) idea obsolete.
Not everybody appreciated Fonte’s simple approach to life. A few years later when he was retired and living in the zone-center of NY, I visited with him and although he never said it, I could see that he was suffering, primarily because of the criticism of some others. He was no longer working as an engineer, and apart from doing the shopping and going to mass, he was at home most of the day, doing the cooking and probably not appreciated as much as he should have been. He suffered this in silence, without complaining, exemplifying his way of living Jesus Forsaken. Moreover, in that period, I also discovered how much he loved Mary and how much he read the mystics. For example, apart from working fulltime in Chicago, I had begun my theological studies. At one stage during my studies of Christology (around 2004-2005) it struck me that perhaps Mary, since she was Immaculate and Assumed into heaven, had an ongoing inner relationship with her Son, Jesus, by means of the Holy Spirit akin to the beatific vision that preserved and consoled her during her life on earth. I googled it but found nothing. Someone suggested that I call Fonte. I asked him if he thought that Mary could have had the beatific vision while on earth. To my surprise he answered “yes” and assured me that Mary had indeed experienced the beatific vision while on earth and that I could find a reference to it in the writings of the Spanish Mystic “Mara Agreda,” whom I had never heard of at the time. Fonte did not say this as a theologian (which he was not) but with a conviction that came from his own inner rapport with Mary. I was very much impressed.
Overall, I can say that my memories of being in Focolare in LA with Fonte was very joyful and was primarily due his happy disposition. He never criticized you, left you free and was happy to live life as a “popo.” He always had a consoling word for everyone. He was very humble and unassuming. And although, I was saddened to see that he died alone and unexpectedly, I am also happy to know that I have another friend in heaven.
Paul O’Hara, Prof. University Institute SOPHIA, Loppiano, Italy
