Angelo Montante

Angelo Thomas Montante was born on February 19, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to Leonardo and Margherita Volpe Montante. He was the youngest of three brothers - Joseph and Peter. He departed from the ones who loved him on March 17, 2016. Angelo earned his doctorate in history from UCLA and taught history, philosophy and sociology for over 36 years. Many have described Angelo as a “renaissance man” due to his love of the written word, his appreciation of the arts and his enjoyment of conversations with family and friends. His attempts at dancing were in an effort to please his loving wife, Petra.
Angelo graduated from Venice High School in 1950. He entered the U.S. Army and served two years in the Korean Conflict. After being honorably discharged, he took advantage of the GI Bill to further his education. He attended Santa Monica City College and California State University, Northridge, culminating with his doctorate in History from UCLA.
Angelo began his teaching career as a “freeway flyer” working at multiple institutions, but became a full time tenured professor at Glendale Community College. He taught history, philosophy and sociology. He was fluent in five languages (English, Italian, Sicilian, Spanish and French) and spoke just enough Dutch to communicate with his in-laws!
On September 7, 1974, Angelo married the love of his life, Petronella Jacobsson in Las Vegas, Nevada. They resided in Canoga Park, Chatsworth and Moorpark, California during their marriage. The beginning of their worldwide travel began with a summer of researching his doctoral topic on Nicholas Foucquet in Paris, France. European travels included a visit to Sicily to see the homeland of Angelo’s parents, a Danube Christmas cruise, a Baltic cruise including St. Petersburg and Moscow, and multiple visits to Amsterdam. They also enjoyed numerous visits to Hawaii, cruising Alaska and traveling by car throughout the United States and Canada.
As health issues became more prominent, Angelo chose to retire and enjoy time with his wife, family and dear friends. From the time Petra brought Snookie, the one-eyed feral cat home, he became Angie’s loving companion. Since his retirement in 2006, Angelo enjoyed attending the horse races, visiting Las Vegas (so he could bet on the horses!), dining out (always culminating with a McDonald’s ice cream cone), and taking a ride in the car (continuing to give Petra driving instructions!).
Angelo’s lifelong passions, besides the horse races, included reading; collecting stamps, history books, airplanes, toothpicks and sharpened pencils; making collages; watching “Jeopardy” and Fareed Zakaria; and wearing shorts.
Dear Angelo is now taking care of our precious little Mikey in heaven. We know he is having wonderful conversations with his family and friends – not to mention discussions with God about life’s journey. We will miss him deeply.
Thank you for your joyful memories of Angelo who will remain in our hearts forever.
In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Mikey Montante Scholarship Fund at Glendale College.