Anthony William Kunasek

Anthony William “Tony” Kunasek, Assistant State Attorney and professor, died Saturday, April 30, 2022 in Fort Myers, Florida. He was 55 years old. Tony was born to the late David and Louise (Gozzi) Kunasek on March 7, 1967 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He grew up in Agawam, Massachusetts, graduated from Agawam High School and American International College in Springfield. Upon his graduation, cum laude, from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan in 1994, Tony successfully sat for the Florida Bar, relocated to Fort Myers, and was hired by former State Attorney Joseph P. D’Alessandro as an Assistant State Attorney.

His passion for justice and public safety was unparalleled. Tony was entrusted with a variety of critical responsibilities during his career at the State Attorney’s Office. He prosecuted some of the most difficult and high-profile cases Southwest Florida has ever encountered – including the Gateway double murder trial of Fred Cooper and the murder trial of Justin Grodin, accused of torturing and killing an 11- month-old child. At the time of his death, Tony was in the middle of prosecuting one of the five persons arrested for the murders of two innocent people during the Club Blu mass shooting in Fort Myers in 2016.Tony was a leader within the State Attorney’s Office having served in the LaBelle office in Hendry County, Assistant Circuit Court Chief in Lee County for former State Attorney Stephen B. Russell, and, until his death, as the Chief of Special Prosecutions for the 20th Circuit for State Attorney Amira D. Fox. His leadership in the office was inspirational. He served to mentor and guide his fellow Assistant State Attorneys, helped shape and instill in them character, judgment, skill, and ethics, and provided personal encouragement during difficult situations.

Tony was well known for leaving hand-written yellow sticky notes of reassurance and support on the desks and chairs of his colleagues while they were in trial. Tony taught law enforcement recruits at the Southwest Florida Criminal Justice Academy in Fort Myers. He also served, for many years, as an Adjunct Professor of Criminal Law and Procedure at Florida Gulf Coast University. The chance to help educate tomorrow’s police officers, lawyers, and young prosecutors, was a source of great pride for Tony.

Tony’s love for his family and friends will always be remembered. He was the youngest of three children and he could do no wrong in the eyes of his parents, much to the chagrin of his brother and sister. He excelled as a pitcher at Agawam High and was a member of the Men’s Golf Team at American International College. He enjoyed playing 18 holes of golf anytime (with a hole-in-one on his card!) and picked up pickleball after a long life of playing tennis. Whether in the court room, on the links, or on the playing courts, he was competitive to say the least. Tony loved to travel, often with his best friend and travel companion, Kelly Worcester. Trips to Europe and cruises left a lifetime of memories. He found peace visiting friends and family and spent time every summer on his beloved Cape Cod.

Mourning his loss is his devoted sister, Lynda Kunasek, and her partner Sue Murphy, of Agawam Massachusetts, Uncle Louie and his wife, Aunt Sally, Uncle Pete and his wife, Rosanne, his Godfather, Uncle Ray, Aunt Sandy, 22 loving cousins, his dear friends and students, and his grateful and adoring family at the State Attorney’s Office. Tony is predeceased by his brother, David, his Uncle Jack, and his Aunts Peggy and Shirley.

A celebration of Tony’s life is planned for a later date in both his childhood hometown of Agawam and in Fort Myers.

Donations can be made in his honor to Valerie’s House or the Ronald McDonald House.

I hope my achievements in life shall be these –

That I will have fought for what was right and fair,

That I will have risked for that which mattered,

That I will have given help to those who were in need . . .

That I will have left the earth a better place for what

I’ve done and who I’ve been.

- Carl Thomas Hoppe

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.neptunesociety.com/location/fort-myers-cremation for the Kunasek family.