Vince Santroni Jr. honors his father by donating money from charity to St. Jude’s, youth fishing groups and even buys supplies to clean local lakes
Death can create profound change in the world. It can even inspire a man from Mantua to walk away from alcohol and a big salary and to create a clothing line in which the proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, support local youth fishing groups and even assist with lake cleanup in South Jersey.
The death of Vince Santroni’s father, Vincent Santroni Sr., did all of this.
T-shirts, hats and other clothing items emblazoned with the slogan “The Rod Father” can be seen close to the shores of many lakes in South Jersey and even on anglers throughout the country as his mission is catching traction in the fishing community.
Santroni Jr. began “The Rod Father” after his father lost his battle to small cell lung cancer in 2013. Santroni Sr. passed on March 31 of that year, Easter Sunday.
A lifelong angler, Santroni Sr. suffered a career-ending injury in the South Philadelphia Navy Yard in the 1970s that placed him on disability the remainder of his life.
While tragic, the injury did not stifle his ability to fish, so he used the extra time to fish with his son, teaching him techniques and even instilling in him a love for the environment.
However, once the younger Santroni turned 13, baseball consumed his life and he didn’t pick up a fishing rod for 27 years.
Within that time, Santroni Jr. attended Rowan University where he played baseball and took classes in human relations and marketing. An internship with an advertising agency led to his hiring at Comcast and from there he worked multiple jobs and made more than a decent living. He even broke away and got involved in the night club scene, managing and continuing with advertising.
However, during that stretch of time, Santroni Jr. was no stranger to alcohol.
Reflecting on his past, he mentioned that while he was successful, his wild lifestyle caused family and friends to grow concerned
“I could go from being ‘the guy’ to ‘that guy,’” he said, noting fights and even encounters with law enforcement.
Diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in 2013, Santroni Sr. faded quickly. In the waning hours of his life, he urged his son to make a change and start being the person he knew he could be.
“His passing saved my life,” Santroni Jr. said.
Taking his father’s final wish to heart, Santroni Jr. reassessed his life and found himself on the water again, fishing rod in hand and pendant around his neck containing the ashes of his father.
Dubbing his father “The Rod Father” Santroni considered creating a charity of sorts in his father’s memory. While sporting a T-shirt with the newly coined name, Santroni attended the Bassmaster Elite Series on the Delaware River, a championship bass fishing tournament in 2014. Always in a different location, the series never took place in Philadelphia during his father’s lifetime.
The shirt garnered much attention and as people inquired, the idea blossomed.
“I knew I had to take it further,” he said.
Recalling his father’s charitable nature, especially when it came to children, Santroni remembered the frequency with which his father donated to St. Jude Hospital.
“Children, they don’t have a choice,” his father said to him at one point.
Soon hats, shirts, sweatshirts and more were available online for purchase with a large percentage of proceeds going to the hospital.
“It is a way to honor my father,” he said.
Taking his efforts to change himself and set into motion the potential of change for others, Santroni used part of the proceeds to also purchase items such as industrial garbage bags and work gloves to help pull garbage from local lakes.
“He’d of done the same thing, if he could,” Santroni said.
With the help of friends and the local fishing community, Santroni picks certain times of the year and puts out a call on social media for volunteers to help clean local lakes.
“In under three hours [30 volunteers] filled 30 garbage bags of trash from Stewart Lake in Woodbury,” he said.
In the past four years, Santroni and volunteers have picked garbage on more than 50 occasions in the lakes Santroni Sr. fished in his lifetime.
Santroni said everything from plastic bottles to shopping carts to heroin needles have been taken out of these lakes.
Santroni has also used proceeds from clothing purchases to supply youth fishing groups with new lines, rods and more.
“I’ll do this until the day I die,” Santroni said of the entirety of the effort.
Keeping in mind the good nature and hard work ethic of his father, Santroni says of Rod Father volunteers, “Responsibility, accountability and volunteerism are what make great citizens, great role models and great leaders in our community.”
For more information about Santroni Jr. and “The Rod Father,” visit http://www.rodfatherbass.com/.
