Anthony Miles Conte

Anthony Miles Conte passed away Friday morning, April 13, at his home in Asheville, NC from heart failure. He was 43.

Anthony was born on May 15th, 1974 in Methuen Mass. His very first years were spent in New England before he and his mom moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he attended John I Leonard High School and Palm Beach Community College. While there, he developed never-ending friendships that only grew deeper and stronger—bonds of steel to this day. He and his mother Patricia Lynch have been by each other since his birth, with mutual love and support that is beyond compare. His step-father Allen, who passed away this last May after a long battle with cancer, came into his life and they immediately found a strong commonality and love. In 2007, he was introduced to his wife Carrie by Elisabeth Nash Wrenn. They were married in 2011, true soul mates who shared the same passions of travel and adventure.

Anthony embraced a straight-edge lifestyle early on. Clean living, dedication to a vegan diet, a love of tattoos, and a music scene that brought a community of people together. He lived his life giving and caring for others with no request or expectation of anything in return. Anthony’s smile and laughter could melt the coldest of hearts, his razor-sharp wit would bring the laughter back around. His very happy place was any day he could be at Disney World and brought home, much to Carrie’s dismay, many trinkets of Disney lore to decorate their house. He was a Star Wars storm trooper to the core, a proud member of the 501st Carolina Garrison, Badge TI-28803. Traveling the world, he joined up with others with similar passion that brought such joy. But the biggest battles he fought, was dressed up in full trooper uniform, fighting for the Make-A-Wish foundation, bringing a little hope and joy to children fighting cancer. 

Anthony joined the US forest service with the 777 Hotshot Crew out of Nevada as a Wild Land Fire Fighter in the spring of 1993. His career spanned that of fire fighter, crew superintendent to most recently the Region 8 Regional Fire Training Program Specialist and Apprentice Coordinator. He traveled around the country with unparalleled dedication to serving. His most proud accomplishment was forming the Davidson River Initial Attack Fire Crew, a unit that brought young people from troubled backgrounds to learn wild land fire fighting, a new way of life, and offered them a way out. Anthony touched lives, saved lives, in so many ways and was highly respected throughout the forest service.

Anthony is survived by his wife, Carrie Baris, mother Patricia Lynch, uncle John Conte and his wife Margaret, Aunt Carolyn Brogan, cousins Faye and her fiancée Corey, Jake and his fiancée Kylie, and Chris and his wife Niki, godmother Gail Conte Wall, mother and father in-law John and Noreen Baris, so many very close family members throughout New England, North Carolina and Florida and his loving friends throughout the world that he considered family. 

He was preceded in death by his step-father Allen Lynch, his grandparents Anthony Conte, who passed away 4 days earlier, and Faye Swinson Conte.

Living life to the fullest, exploring the world, hiking in the woods, hanging with friends and family, loving his wife, being the go-to guy for anything and caring for everyone. This is what Anthony was truly all about. Please come join us to celebrate his life with stories and love. A memorial service will be held to honor and celebrate Anthony’s life and legacy on Wednesday, April 18th, 11:00 AM, at The Orange Peel in Asheville. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his honor can be made to The Make-A-Wish Foundation at https://bit.ly/2qA6VUz. Donations for support to Carrie and Patricia can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/qa9gm-anthony-conte-memorial-fund

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Anthony Miles Conte, please visit our floral store.