For many fathers, Father’s Day is not measured by cards or gifts, but by the lives of the children they helped shape.
It is a chance to look back on the lessons learned, the sacrifices made and the children who have grown into adults with families, careers and lives of their own.
For three local fathers — businessman Bill Dimond, McDonald’s owner and operator John Santonastasso Jr. and author, private investor and volunteer baseball coach John Altamura — fatherhood has brought different experiences, but a common sense of pride.
For Dimond, owner of Dunn & Dimond Insurance, the greatest reward has been watching his children become good people.
Today, he says fatherhood has reached a stage he never expected.
“At this point, I feel like I’m the one learning from them,” he said.
Dimond said the values he hoped to pass along were simple: faith, hard work, treating people the right way and extending grace to others.
“If they carry those things with them, I feel like I’ve done my job,” he said.
Having his sons now working in the family business has added another dimension to fatherhood.
“It’s a third-generation business, so there’s something pretty special about seeing them work alongside my dad and the rest of the family,” he said.
For Santonastasso, fatherhood began with a moment he still remembers vividly.
“When Toni was born, it changed my whole mind about life,” he said. “Everything you do becomes about this beautiful child that was born.”
He and his wife, Kathy, spent years supporting their daughter’s athletic pursuits, traveling to softball games, practices and tournaments across the region.
“I remember showing up at games and seeing her look toward the bleachers to make sure her parents were there,” Santonastasso said. “Once she saw us, you could see her relax.”
One of his favorite memories came during a showcase tournament when Toni hit two home runs in front of college recruiters. In the weeks to followed, she received multiple Division I scholarship offers.
Today, however, the longtime McDonald’s owner says his greatest pride comes not from his daughter’s athletic or business accomplishments, but from watching her raise a family of her own.
“She’s an unbelievable mother,” he said. “The pride, the patience and how much she cares. It means everything.”
“We always believed hard work pays off,” he said. “Whether it’s school, sports, business or life.”
While Santonastasso’s lessons centered on faith, character and perseverance, John Altamura emphasized the importance of presence, leadership and setting an example.
Altamura, whose recently published novel Seven Years in Chicago: Part 1: Survival explores the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, views fatherhood through both the eyes of a parent and a coach.
The most important lesson he learned from his own father, he said, was that success requires effort.
“Nothing comes easy,” Altamura said. “Life is tough, and success usually comes at a cost. You have to put the work in.”
Those same lessons have guided the way he raises his sons.
“For me, being a parent is one of the highest forms of success,” he said. “It’s about being present in their lives and leading by example.”
As a youth baseball coach, Altamura has found opportunities to teach life lessons through sports.
“Baseball requires a lot of teaching, patience and encouragement,” he said. “There is failure built into the game, and that makes it a great way to teach kids how to handle frustration, keep working and not give up.”
While writing books requires discipline and long hours, Altamura says family always remains his top priority.
“Life is all about balance,” he said. “My family will always come first.”
Although their experiences differ, all three fathers shared similar hopes for the next generation: that their children would grow up with strong values, work hard, care about others and build meaningful lives.
Perhaps that’s what Father’s Day is ultimately about — not measuring success by accomplishments or titles, but by the people who carry forward the lessons fathers worked so hard to teach.
And for these three fathers, that may be the greatest gift of all.
