by Joseph RADDER
Little did they dream, growing up in Buffalo in the 1950s, that someday they would be
blessed with the great success that has enabled them to be Buffalo’s Philanthropists
of the Year. This was the honor Carol and Carl Montante received last November from the
local chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals.
Carl is the oldest of Michael and Georgia Montante’s five children. He has many
pleasant memories of growing up on the west side of Buffalo. He remembers Friday evenings
when he would sit on the front porch hoping that his grandmother, who lived across the
street, would invite him to go to a movie with her. And often she did. He remembers
sitting with his grandfather on a bench in Front Park watching the trains go by and how he
would be afraid when a steam train would roar by and the air would be dark with smoke.
Carol was growing up at the same time in North Buffalo. She too was the oldest of a family
of five. Carol’s Dad, Jack Lyons was in the steel business and they moved thirteen
times in so many years. Eventually the Lyons family would settle down in Buffalo and Jack
would become the founder of Gibraltar Steel. Carol went to Holy Angels Academy, where she
graduated in 1960. 36 years later the Montantes would make possible the renovation of a
lecture hall at Holy Angels Academy which is now named for them.
Carl has great high school memories too. He attended Canisius High School on Delaware
Avenue where he also graduated in 1960. He fondly remembers Father Sturm and Father
Sturtzer. Carl would serve in the late 1980s as Chairman of the Board at Canisius.
Carol went to D’Youville College where she earned a nursing degree, then to grad
school at U.B. Carl spent four years at Canisius College, first as a pre-med student, then
a Latin major, then as an Economics major. As sort of a lark, he took the Law School
Aptitude test and passed with flying colors. The result was a three year course of study
at U.B. Law School. He passed the bar exams in 1968 and spent a very short time practicing
law before he decided he didn’t want to spend his life behind a desk.
Meanwhile, Carol had completed her college work and was practicing as a Psychiatric Nurse
at Linwood-Bryant Hospital.
Carol and Carl were married at St. Mark’s Church in 1963. “We had a child every
year Carl was in Law School,” Carol said. Their firstborn, Laura, now Mrs. Greg
Zaepfel, works with her Dad at Uniland as Director of Corporate Relations.
The following year, Carl Jr. was born. “Duke,” as Carl calls him, “is now
in charge of special projects at Uniland.” He is married to Wendy Daigler, who
happens to be Carol and Carl’s godchild.
Next came Michael, named for his grandfather. He is married to Alexandra Llugany, daughter
of the Montante’s close friends and travelling companions, Oscar and Carmen. Mike
also works for Uniland and is involved in major transactions.
Tim, the youngest, is studying to be an airline pilot in New Hampshire.
Carl and Carol Montante have ten grandchildren.
Another reason Carl gave up the practice of law was a practical one. “We had three
children, were living in a small apartment on Niagara Street, and I was only earning $70 a
week,” Carl said. So he went to work with his Dad in the tire business. Soon
thereafter he had the opportunity to purchase a wholesale tire business which began in a
two-car garage on Military Road. The company soon outgrew that facility and purchased land
for a new building in Tonawanda. After constructing a warehouse there for the tire
business, another warehouse was built for lease, and then an apartment building in North
Tonawanda called Carousel Park. This was the beginning of the huge real estate firm known
today as Uniland.
Carol continued in Psychiatric Nursing as long as she could. “In those days you had
to work weekends, and we had three children. Babysitters were hard to come by, so I had to
give up the nursing profession,” she said. Later on, Carol went to Villa Maria
College to study interior design, which continues to be her favorite avocation today. On
the day we visited the Montante’s in Uniland’s beautiful offices, Carol was
picking out wallpaper for “complete renovation” of one of their homes.
Has success spoiled the Montantes? Not at all. “We have been so very lucky,”
Carol says, and Carl adds, “We have so much to be thankful for.” It’s
obvious they are thinking of their family as well as their material gains when they say
that. This feeling of gratitude is clearly Carl and Carol’s motivation for their
philanthropic work. Significant gifts they have made include $1.5 million to Canisius
College to enable the renovation of St. Vincent dePaul’s Church in the Carol and Carl
Montante Cultural Center.
Carl is currently, or has in the past, served as a trustee or board member of twenty-six
different organizations. Including Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Canisius College
from 1998-2002. Carol has served on the D’Youville College Advisory Board and is
currently very active in Catholic Charities. Between them they have received numerous
awards over the years.
One would think that there was very little time left for recreation, but not so. “We
love to go to the movies,” Carl added. “We ski, we travel a lot, of course
there’s golf, squash and racquet ball and I love fiddling around the house.”
“We’ve been lucky,” Carl said, “but one of the biggest things we have
to be thankful for is that all of our children and grandchildren live here in Western New
York.”
From where we sit, Western New York is lucky too, to have the Montantes as loyal citizens
who continually make such great contributions to this community.
Joseph Radder is a freelance writer.