A veteran of World War II, Henry E. Fontanier was born in Newark, NJ on June 9, 1919.
He received Naval Officer Indoctrination at Harvard University and served as a Lt. Commander in the US Naval Reserves. He was a Flight Engineer with the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS). NATS was established in December 1941 to provide rapid air delivery of critical equipment, spare parts, and specialist personnel to naval activities and fleet forces worldwide.

Lt. Commander Fontanier served in Squadron Six with NATS and was stationed at Dinner Key Base in Miami, Florida. In this position he flew as a crewmember in many different types of Naval seaplanes including the JRM-1 "Marshall Mars," S-42 "Flying Clipper," the PB2Y "Coronado," and the PMB3-R "Mariner." During his final two weeks of service at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, NJ, he had the opportunity to patrol the coastline in a naval dirigible (blimp).

After graduating from Rutgers University with a BS in accounting Lt. Commander Fontanier then earned a master's degree in business from New York University. He held several executive positions during an extraordinary 50-year career including serving as a division manager with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. He also served as the General Manager of bulk mail for the US Postal Service in Birmingham, MI and Philadelphia, PA. He was a member of the American Management Association, the American Ordnance Association and the Wings Club of New York.

He was a devoted husband to his wife, June M. Fontanier; loving father to his son and two daughters, Dr. Charles E. Fontanier, Lynne M. Fontanier, and Janette C. Ketcham; and beloved grandfather to his six grandchildren. He passed away in 1997.