Town Adopts Tony Garafalo

Hometown Heroes, People
on March 18, 2001

Town hall in Oolitic, Ind., (pop. 1,446) is filled with official looking signs, but one stands out. Hanging on an office door at the end of the hall is a sign that reads Tonys Room. Another note stuck on the door lets people know when Tony is Out.

Although Tony Garafalo, 78, is not officially a town employee, hes had an office in town hall and been doing chores for people in the central Indiana town for decades. Tonyas everyone knows him bysets no pay rate for the work he does; he just tells folks to pay him what they consider fair.

The town has sort of adopted him, says Pauline Rowe, the towns clerk-treasurer. Tony is a very special man to all of us around here.

The son of Italian immigrants, Tony was born in 1922 with a speech impediment caused by a cleft palate, a congenital condition that couldnt be surgically corrected back then.

They didnt know how to do things like that years ago, says his sister, Mary Frances Mosier, 75. He cant talk too well, so they thought he couldnt learn. He never did learn how to read.

School officials passed Tony from one grade to another until he reached the fourth grade. Then, one day, Tony was told to go home, boy, and thats what he did.

As soon as he was old enough, though, Tony began doing chores around town. No matter the weather, Tony would be out and about, delivering mail to local businesses, emptying trash cans in town hall, stocking grocery store shelves, or running errands for anyone who needed them done.

Theres never been a lazy bone in that guys body. Hes a dandy, says Robert Sharr, who was in the second grade with Tony. He cant read a lick, but he carries his Bible because he wants everybody to know whose side he is on.

When Sharr bought a small grocery store in downtown Oolitic in 1954, Tony was right there to help. Back then we got a lot of pop bottles returned for the deposits you used to have to pay. Tony was known as the Pop Bottle King. Hed take a whole big grocery cart of those bottles and sort them out back into the empty cases.

When Tonys mother died in 1959, he went to live a few miles down the road in Bedford, Ind., (pop. 14,982) with his sister. But every day (except Sunday when he attends morning and evening church services), Tonys sister brings him back to the town that he loves. Tony makes his rounds, eats lunch in his town hall office, and catches a ride back to his sisters at the end of the day.

In the early 1970s, while Sharr was serving on the town board, Tony was given his own room in town hall so he would have a place to rest between jobs and to call his own.

Although he has since retired, Sharr says he makes it a point to catch up with Tony nearly every day. He makes people in town feel good, says Sharr, 74. Every day I give him a hug and it makes my day brighter.

Inside Tonys office, a television, coffeepot, collection of ball caps, circle of folding chairs, and a big stack of Bibles are neatly arranged in the comfortable room. A writing desk is decorated with notes from Tonys friends, as well as some more Bibles.

Opening a big closet, Tony points out even more Bibles given to him by townspeople over the years. He and the Man Upstairs are on very friendly terms, Tony manages to convey with a grin.

And where is Tony happiest? Without hesitation, he runs his hand over his heart and glances around at the streets of Oolitic. Here, he says, a big smile lighting his face.

For Tony, Oolitic is the center of the universe. And for folks who live in Oolitic?

I think the good Lord knew where to put Tony, Sharr says. Tonys got a gift for being happy and making others happy. Hes an important part of the heart of this town.