GREENVILLE - Greenville Senior High School Student Council has selected Steve Bonfiglio as the alumni grand marshal for this year's homecoming parade, which is set for Sept. 28.
"We are proud of this Greenville graduate who has stayed in Greenville and supported the community through his family business," said Student Council Adviser Kathryn L. Quinn. "We appreciate the support he has shown to the school system through the GHS merchandise he sells in his store and allowing the purchase of pre-sale sporting events tickets in the store, etc. For these things and many more, we honor him as our choice to lead the homecoming parade this year."
"I'm very honored," said Bonfiglio behind the pharmacy counter at Bonfiglio's on South Broadway. "I've supported the school for a long time. It's a great opportunity to represent the kids. I love the kids."
A 1977 graduate of Greenville High School, he came back to his father Ron's pharmacy business after graduating in 1982 from Ohio Northern University School of Pharmacy.
"My entire career has been here," he said. "I purchased this store in 1987 and opened the one in Arcanum in 1982."
The son of Ron and Mary Bonfiglio and the late Audrey Bonfiglio, Steve is married to his childhood sweetheart (she was 14; he,16), the former Christa Curtner, who graduated from Greenville in 1979. They have been married 22 1/2 years, and have four children, Antonio, a senior majoring in business administration at Ohio Northern; Matthew, a sophomore at Toledo University majoring in pharmacy; Andrea, a sophomore at Greenville High School; and Andrew, a pre-schooler at St. Mary's School.
He has three siblings, all of whom are pharmacists. Sister Beth Bonfiglio Miller has a store in York, Pa., brother David has one in Oak Creek, Colo., and sister Laura Bonfiglio Marva of Ravenna, Ohio, has two stores.
He's worked at the Greenville store since childhood.
"I washed bottles since I was 6 years old," he said. "We actually washed the bottles then. Everything has changed...literally. We went from a restaurant to an oh-by-the-way pharmacy to the professional pharmacy it is now. We served 20 times as many lunches as we filled prescriptions. We took out the lunch counter in 1965."
In high school, Bonfiglio was a three-year letterman on the high school swim team and still holds the high-point diving record. He also played football and ran track.
The 47-year-old is a member of the Boosters, Darke County Youth For Christ, First United Methodist Church, Moose Lodge and numerous pharmacy associations and brotherhoods. He is also on the board of directors for Samaritan House and Darke County Cancer Association.
"I support the school financially," he said. "I sell football and basketball home game tickets at no cost to the school, and I support all of the boosters as well as the Wavaires. There is really nothing we don't donate. We donate something."
Whenever he can, Bonfiglio loves to play golf. He coached soccer for nine years with the Darke County Soccer Association.
Riding with him in the homecoming parade will be his wife and son, Andrew.
Linda Moody is an assistant editor for the Daily Advocate. She can be reached at lmoody@dailyadvocate.com.
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