Joseph C. Romano, longtime Phillies scout and businessman
He owned a Norristown produce company and two major league farm teams.
AS A PHILLIES SCOUT, Joe Romano spent a lot of time on dusty high-school fields as far away as Costa Rica, sizing up prospects for the team.
He loved it.
Joe was a baseball fanatic. He not only scouted for the Phillies, he owned pro baseball farm teams and was proud of the fact that he never missed spring training in Clearwater, Fla., in more than 30 years.
In fact, he moved to Clearwater to be closer to the heart of Philadelphia baseball history.
Joseph C. Romano, who formerly owned a produce company with a fleet of 10 trucks in Norristown, an investor in the company that financed Joe Frazier's career, community activist, farmer and world traveler, died Aug. 8 of natural causes. He had homes in Clearwater and Ambler. His age was a closely guarded secret.
Joe's passion for sports was worldwide. He traveled the world to attend the Olympics and other major events. He watched tennis in Forest Hills and horses at the Kentucky Derby.
He even had a brief - very brief - film career. He appeared in "The Godfather: Part II" as a customs agent escorting Hyman Roth, the character based on Meyer Lansky, played by Lee Strasberg, as he is arrested trying to reenter the U.S. from Cuba.
Joe grew up in Ambler and was a standout baseball player in the former Ambler High School. When the school dropped baseball as a varsity sport, Joe played for a number of semipro teams in the area, dreaming of the big leagues. However, a serious knee injury ended his playing career. He was just 16.
Joe had a scholarship to attend Temple University, but he decided to go into business. With his brothers, he rented a warehouse in Norristown and started Romano Brothers ("Live Longer Eat Fresh Fruit and Vegetables").
He sold the business in 1978.
In 1967, Joe purchased a farm team affiliated with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. He later acquired an affiliate of the Houston Astros of the National League. After a devastating flood in Williamsport, where the team was based, he moved it to Elmira, N.Y. It became affiliated with the Boston Red Sox.
With his flair for the dramatic, Joe joined with the Elmira TV station to stage several promotions for the fans, including a wrestling exhibition featuring Jim Londos, the "Golden Greek."
Joe's baseball activities attracted the attention of Dallas Green, manager of the Phillies from 1979 to 1981, and he hired Joe as a scout.
Among Joe's other entrepreneurial activities, he invested in Cloverlay, which bankrolled Joe Frazier's early career, and engaged in farming operations in various states. He was an investor in the Medford Village Country Club in Medford, N.J.
Joe was a major donor to the altar construction at St. Joseph's Church in Ambler. When the new church was built in 1976, its altar was work of art made of Botticino marble imported from Italy.
Joe was involved in a number of activities of benefit to youth. He was affiliated with the Clearwater Youth Association, and was a member of the board of Camp Rainbow in Schwenksville, which provided underprivileged children with sporting programs, arts and crafts activities, camping trips and excursions to Phillies games.
He also was a member of the Phillies Diamond Club and the Triangle Club of Montgomery County, which encourages academic achievement among high-school students through scholarships and other programs. He also was a member of the Middle Atlantic Major League Baseball Scouts Association.
In 1988, Joe was inducted into the Pennsylvania American Legion Sports Hall of Fame.
He is survived by a sister, Mary Roberto. He was predeceased by four brothers, Victor, John, Frank and Michael, and a sister, Rose Romano.
Services: Funeral Mass 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Joseph's Church, Main and Poplar streets, Ambler. Friends man call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Donations in his memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, 480 Norristown Rd., Suite 150, Blue Bell, PA 19422, or the Arthritis Foundation, 111 S. Independence Mall East, Suite 500, Philadelphia 19106.
