Celebrating Phil Citta

If I were to sit down and make a list of my all-time favorite people there is no doubt Phil Citta would be on that list even though we were not close personal friends. He just had this way about him which made you feel comfortable and I was truly heartbroken when he lost his life to pancreatic cancer in 2004. Phil was best known as the charismatic owner of The Office Restaurant and Lounge in Toms River and when you came in there was a pretty good chance he was the one who greeted you, decked out in a Hawaiian-print short-sleeved shirt with reading glasses hanging around his neck.

Simply put Phil and The Office were synonymous with one another and you could never imagine there would be a time when the two did not go hand in hand. Of course that could have ended with his untimely death seven years ago but actually I still feel his presence every time I walk through the doors. Maybe his greatest innovation was the use of $2 bills as change and I used to kid him that he was probably responsible for more relationships ending than any other individual. How many people over the years came home late at night and said they had to put in extra time at the office? They were talking about where they worked but when a $2 bill was spotted in a wallet or billfold then the gig was up…the office they were at had food and drink. However it was brilliant marketing and continues to this day.

What also made Phil such a special person was his generosity as he rarely said “no” when it came to charitable causes and did most of this little recognition. Of course that has been a staple of the Citta Family for years so it was not surprising that they would make something positive out of Phil’s death. It began with a $1 million donation to Community Medical Center and the establishment of the J. Phillip Citta Regional Cancer Center, which offers the latest in treatment services for patients and their families who no longer have to travel out of the area.

In 2006 the Office Lounge celebrated Phil’s birthday with a fundraiser to benefit cancer research and today is the 6th Annual Phil Citta Memorial Fundraiser as it comes a day before what would have been his 67th birthday. There is no better way to celebrate Phil’s life then to stop in at some point today because 50% of the gross profit will be donated to the cancer center that bears his name. There will be raffle prizes and giveaways all day and you can also purchase limited edition beach towels which appropriately are modeled after a $2 bill. The first five of these birthday parties raised more than $84,000 so today’s effort should put them over the $100,000 mark. It will make his family and friends very happy and he will smile as well in his newest Hawaiian-print shirt.