A bittersweet farewell

Noaki Schwartz

When former City Councilman Phil Sansone’s wife, Nadine, passed away last

July, he not only lost his life partner, he also lost his “eyes and ears

in Corona del Mar.”

“She was dedicated and supported me in everything I ever did,” he said.

“She played loads of bridge and had a good ear for the community.”

And after nearly 57 years of marriage -- a marriage that held together

through World War II, across state boundaries and through a variety of

careers -- it was too much for Sansone to be left behind in the community

they had looked after for so long.

On Dec. 15, he will move to Hawaii.

Sansone, 80, came to Newport in 1966 from Houston. By that time, he had

moved through several different jobs that led him across the country,

from his birth state of New York, through the South and finally to

California.

Born in 1919, he grew up the son of Italian immigrants in Potsdam, New

York. Primarily a town of French-speaking transplants from Quebec,

Sansone’s father changed the pronunciation of their name to avoid any

prejudice.

“It was cold and frigid,” he said about the town, which bordered Canada.

When it did get warm in the summers, Sansone, like any American youth,

played baseball.

“There was no TV and very little radio,” he said. “Sports was what melded

a town together.”

At age 18, he was so good that he started playing semiprofessional ball

in Canada. His gnarled, powerful hands still reflect his years as a

catcher despite his eventual white-collar career path.

It was his early love of baseball that led Sansone to two significant

life-changing events: he got a scholarship to Clarkson University and he

met his wife.

Phil and Nadine met through a friend when he was playing a game in her

hometown. The two kept in touch, even after he went off to college to

study business administration.

Shortly after, in 1940, Sansone injured his shoulder, which never quite

recovered. With baseball no longer an option and the war heating up,

Sansone joined the National Guard.

“I was stationed in New York, which was 350 miles away [from Nadine].

There were lots of separations,” he said of their three-year engagement.

He spent a year in Iceland before coming home in the fall of 1942. The

two were finally married, on Nov. 11 -- Armistice Day.

For more than 20 years, the couple moved from place to place, building a

life together. She worked as an auditor and he bought communication

equipment for the government.

The couple eventually settled to Corona del Mar in 1966. Phil started to

become involved in the community’s civic association. It wasn’t until

after he retired in the early 1980s, however, that he ran for city

government.

His main issue at the time was the development of Fashion Island. He

supported the development, apart from the high-rise buildings, he said.

“The whole city was split on that,” he recalled.

His political philosophy was independent and goal-oriented. Sansone was

considered by many to be a strong leader, refusing to follow any party

line and making each decision on a case-by-case basis.

Daily Pilot columnist Robert Gardner said Sansone was one of his favorite

city council leaders. He was somehow able to maintain fierce personal

integrity and still make his program acceptable to the public, Gardner

wrote.

“I do a lot of planning -- I have all my life,” Sansone said, adding that

his meticulous planning allowed him to accomplish much as a city

councilman.

Although he was retired, Sansone said working as a councilman was a

full-time job. And, to help him do his job better, his wife became his

partner in covering local issues. She began gleaning bits of information

for him while chatting with neighbors, playing bridge and taking walks.

It was on one of these walks that she hit on what Sansone still considers

one of his finest achievements.

“We used to do a lot of walking [around Inspiration Point] and she said

‘Why don’t you get this improved?,”’ he recalled, adding that she thought

it was one of the best views in California.

He agreed, received a grant and had the walkway built.

Sansone said his wife’s suggestions, such as the Inspiration Point

improvements, proved invaluable during his eight years as a councilman.

Since Nadine’s death, Phil Sansone has lost his life partner and

confidant. And despite long-term plans they made to eventually move to

Hawaii together, he will carry them out alone.