Background
Walter Francis Fontaine was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 1871 to parents that had moved there from Woonsocket.
Walter Francis Fontaine was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 1871 to parents that had moved there from Woonsocket.
He entered the Providence office of Stone, Carpenter & Wilson for a period of practical training, afterward continued in the employ of the firm for a decade (1893-1903). In practice for himself Mr. Fontaine first opened an office in Providence, later moved to Woonsocket and carried on his work without associates until the firm of W. F. Fontaine & Sons was organized. Among the buildings with which he was identified were the Police Station at Woonsocket, 1904; St. Mary's Catholic Church at Willimantic, Conn.; St. Joseph’s College at Fitchburg, Mass., 1906; First Methodist Church, and the Y. M. C. A. at Woonsocket, 1909; and St. Charles Borromeo Church, Providence, R. I.
Fontaine was a member of the AIA and served for a time as Vice President of the Rhode Island chapter. He was also a member of the Rhode Island State Planning Board.