John Peter Trono, 73, of Charlotte, VT passed away unexpectedly on Friday, February 2nd at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Peter was a life-long Vermont resident. He graduated from Burlington High School in 1968 and served as captain of both the baseball and football teams. While stories of his academic prowess at BHS are less discussed, Peter was sure that it was well known that he especially excelled on the football field, earning All-State and Shrine team nominations his senior year. After a year at Bridgton Academy in Maine he went on to play football at the University of Vermont where he served as team captain, and was selected to the All-Yankee Conference team his senior year. He would often be seen proudly wearing a "UVM Football, Undefeated Since 1974" t-shirt.

At the conclusion of his senior year at UVM, Peter was just a handful of credits shy of eligibility for graduation. Rather than returning to school to earn those few credits, he jumped into the business world taking over Trono Fuels and Trono Construction from his father. Nonetheless, Peter was very proud to have attained his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont in the fall of 2018, a mere 44 years later. He often joked that he was contemplating moving back into on-campus housing as he pursued those last few, required credits.

Peter worked very hard over many years to turn his businesses into successful, prominent establishments. As he approached retirement age, rather than get a new set of golf clubs, or look for a condo in Florida, as some men are prone to do, he decided to try his hand at beef cattle farming and started Fat Cow Farm in East Charlotte in 2010. That too has turned into a successful venture. He was most proud however, that he was able to run his businesses with the help of his three sons.

Peter will be remembered as a wonderful, generous man, who was revered by his many friends. He was as comfortable on the stool in the dive bar as he was in the boardroom, and was as happy playing shuffleboard at the Redwood as he was playing handball with a Chief Justice. If you were a friend of Peter's, you were a friend for life. His sense of humor and good-hearted antics will not be forgotten anytime soon. To quote a friend "Peter will always be a part of Burlington's history and lore and stories that he was either a part of, or the start of".

Hunting and the outdoors were among Peter's most passionate pursuits. Opening weekend of rifle season at his camp in Montgomery was among his favorite days of the year. He greatly enjoyed hunting trips to the furthest reaches of Canada in search of trophy bucks. His hunting trips often conflicted with Thanksgiving, at which point his family would send photos of a beautiful turkey dinner, with all the fixings, to which he would respond, with a photo of a bologna sandwich from the inside of a drafty tree stand somewhere in Alberta, on the edge of the Northwest Territories.

Peter was predeceased by his parents John and Bertha Trono. He will be greatly missed by his wife of 28 years Wendy, his three sons, two daughters-in-law, and four dearly loved grandchildren: Lucas and Genevieve (Parker and Flynn), Derek and Antonia (Trae and Mia), and Zachary. Peter also leaves brothers Paul (Diane) and Chris (Renato Salvador) Trono as well as sisters Toni Marie Trono, Gina (Mark) Auriema, Julie Trono (Ted McCarthy), and Lisa (Tony) Perez, as well as many nieces and nephews. The family would like to acknowledge the overwhelming outpouring of support from those that knew, and loved him.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church in Winooski, VT on Friday, February 16th at 12:00 noon, followed by a reception where the sharing of stories and laughs is encouraged. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Merrymac Farm Sanctuary, 490 Lime Kiln Rd., Charlotte, VT 05445.