The early years
Tony’s youth
Tony Adamowicz was born on May 2, 1941, in Moriah, New York to Violet and Walter Adamowicz, both children of Polish immigrants. He and his younger sisters Stephanie and Annemarie were raised in neighboring Port Henry. Port Henry lies on the edge of the beautiful Adirondack Mountains.
Moriah is located in Essex County, New York.
Local newspaper announcement
Port Henry lies on the edge of the Beautiful Adirondack Mountains
Tony’s earliest interests included swimming, and bicycles. He never made a Soap Box Derby racer, but he played with an assortment of home-made cars. Tony was fascinated with the early Revolutionary War era and enjoyed exploring nearby forts. He loved fighter planes like the P-51 and Corsair, building powered models of both.
While still in grade school, he joined the Ground Observer Corps, a network of civilian plane spotters that phoned-in aircraft sightings during the Korean War era before the nation had a good defensive radar network.
He played Pee Wee baseball and had fond memories of going to N.Y. City with his buddies and their dads to watch the Yankees and the Dodgers play. On one trip, they actually got to meet the players!
Tony’s parents owned a grocery store attached to their house.
Their house was next door to his grandparent’s property, Cedar Point House, an upscale hotel, restaurant, and bar on the shore of Lake Champlain overlooking Vermont. Shown in the photo are Tony’s grandfather, Peter Adamowicz, and his mother, Violet.
Life in Port Henry revolved around the water, and Tony loved fishing with his dad, becoming proficient in their 14-foot outboard boat on Lake Champlain.
Tony with his sister Stephanie and father Walter
Tony with his sister Stephanie
I liked to run up and down the stairs of Memorial Lighthouse, and often fished with my dad from the boat pier below.
It wasn’t all cars. I was a varsity letterman in football, played guard and center, and played basketball as well.
I got hooked on racing, reading what I could find on Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans. One of my favorite drivers was Juan Manuel Fangio, and I even wrote book reports on him, while attending Port Henry High School. Of course, the locals had never heard of Fangio.
From Tony’s High School yearbook
Future race car driver
Before I even started school, I pulled my dad’s 46 Buick Roadmaster out of gear, and it rolled down our Tobey Street hill into a snowbank. No harm done, but after that I really got interested in cars! I began to follow European racing cars and drivers when I was about 7 years old.
Tony with Jerry Breeyear, his best friend growing up. They both enlisted in 1958 shortly after the photo on the right.
As you can see from the pictures, Port Henry was a wonderful place to grow up. But it was a tiny village, and I was in search of adventure. Right after high school, I joined the Army and soon found myself working in the Eisenhower White House.