From baseball to island life: Robert Onorato, one of Hilton Head’s pioneer developers, dies

Robert Onorato, a renowned Hilton Head Island developer and resident of over 40 years who was instrumental in planning and overseeing the island’s Palmetto Dunes community, died Thursday, March 23, in Atlanta. He was 91.

Born in New York City on April 20, 1931, Onorato attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx. He was active in several sports throughout high school, his son, Rob Onorato said, taking after his own father, who was a professional boxer.

Decades before Onorato arrived on Hilton Head and cemented himself as one of the island’s earliest and most-influential developers, he was an avid New York Yankees fan — and a talented enough player that one professional team offered him an opportunity to step onto the diamond against his beloved Bronx Bombers.

“He was actually drafted by the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) out of high school,” said Tish Onorato Mills Kirk, Onorato’s daughter. “But grandpa would not sign the papers.’”

Onorato went on to earn a degree in education from the University of Arizona in 1952, where he also secured a full baseball scholarship. After graduation, he was be drafted twice more. The MLB came to Onorato with another opportunity, but it was quickly overruled by the U.S. Army.

Onorato Mills Kirk said her father narrowly avoided being deployed to Korea and was reassigned at the last minute to work as an Army judo instructor and military police officer. Onorato even got to continue his baseball career in the Army, thanks to his relationship to baseball Hall of Famer and former Cleveland Indians general manager Hank Greenberg.

“He was on the airplane to go to Korea, and was pulled off,” Onorato Mills Kirk said. “The propellers were going, the whole nine yards, and his entire battalion was wiped out (before he could arrive). So, it’s kind of a miracle that he was pulled off to play baseball and teach judo.”

Rob Onorato said his father’s “gregarious” nature meant he was friendly with a long list of New York pro sports legends.

“Dad knew everybody, and everybody knew him,” his son said. “Mickey Mantle and Dad became very, very, very close friends. When I was a kid, I remember Mickey calling the house, and my mom would get mad because that meant dad was going somewhere he shouldn’t. ... We had Muhammad Ali over for Thanksgiving dinner. I mean, it just goes on and on.”

Onorato left the Army in 1954, and moved to Tucson, Arizona. There, he met his wife of six decades-plus, Patricia Davis. She died on March 7, 2023, just two weeks before Onorato.

When the pair first met, Onorato Mills Kirk said, Onorato was working in a Tucson bank. He regularly saw Davis when she took coffee breaks from her department store job. Eventually, Davis came to take out a loan in the bank Onorato worked in, and Onorato Mills Kirk said the pair married three months later.

“My dad and his buddies from the bank would be sitting in a booth, and he would watch and go, ‘There’s the princess, I’m going to marry her someday ... They were really a true love story with each other, with the island, and with life, really,” Onorato Mills Kirk said. “I mean, the way they treated the island and respected the nature of it, and respected all the people. It didn’t matter.”

Onorato’s Hilton Head legacy

Onorato and his family first became island residents in 1974, but Onorato had already been working as president of Palmetto Dunes since 1971. During his tenure as president, Palmetto Dunes expanded to include the Shelter Cove neighborhood, and the community’s iconic lagoons were created.

Much like his contemporary and business partner, Charles Fraser, Onorato’s passion for ecologically sound development shaped what island residents value about Hilton Head today.

“When the South Carolina Department of Transportation was planning the development, the four-laning of 278, it was Bob Onorato and Palmetto Dunes ... that made the decision to preserve the oaks that approach Palmetto Dunes,” Ward 3 Councilman David Ames said. “Bob was a force in the community, and had strong opinions about [how to] protect Hilton Head and what was good for Hilton Head.”

Onorato also had a hand in the merging of Sea Pines Academy and May River Academy to create today’s Hilton Head Prep, Rob Onorato said. His accomplishments earned him South Carolina’s highest civilian honor — the Order of the Palmetto. He also received the Alice Glenn Doughtie Good Citizenship Award. He was active in the Rotary Club for many years, and played a significant role in the establishment of Hilton Head Hospital, those who knew him said.

Despite Onorato’s involvement in some of Hilton Head’s largest projects, including the 10-story Marriott Hotel, Onorato Mills Kirk said her father never hesitated to help in smaller, more personal ways when he could.

“There was someone that worked on the grounds crew at one point for Palmetto Dunes that got into trouble, and (Onorato) did not think twice,” Onorato Mills Kirk said. “He was like, ‘What do you need?’ He reached in his pocket, took care of it with a handshake. He was just that person to anybody.”

Onorato is survived by his two children, Tish Onorato Mills Kirk and Rob Onorato, along with four great grandchildren and 10 grandchildren.

Burial will be April 21 at the Marietta, Georgia, National Cemetery. A celebration of life is scheduled for June 3 on Hilton Head Island, with the location to be determined.