Who Am I? Walter Fontaine!

On the first Tuesday of every month, Woonsocket Patch readers can identify the person in a photo provided by the Woonsocket Historical Society for the chance to win a $10 gift card to Dunkin' Donuts.

Irene Blais shares the story of the individual pictured in our .

Today’s “Who Am I” was one of Woonsocket’s most prominent and productive architects.  He was born in Woonsocket in 1871.  As a young man, Walter Fontaine worked for Willard Kent, a prominent civil engineer, and designer of the Woonsocket Opera House, and then went to Europe to study architecture.  After the completion of his studies he returned to his native state and worked for a firm in Providence.  Some 15 years later he returned to Woonsocket and eventually formed his own company in the city.
Among some of the buildings which he designed or helped to design are St. Ann’s Church, Our Lady of Victories Church, Holy Family Church, St. Joseph’s Church, Mount St. Charles Academy, the former Junior and Senior High School at Park Place, St. Francis Orphanage, most of the buildings at Wallum Lake, some of the buildings at the Rhode Island Institutions at Howard, and several public elementary schools in the city.
In September of 1938, Walter Fontaine and his wife died in a catastrophic hurricane of that year by a tidal wave which swept over and destroyed their summer home at a Charlestown Beach.

As the first person to correctly identify Mr. Fontaine,  has won the gift card! Please contact me at sandra.phaneuf@patch.com to let me know where to send your prize.