Dr Vento: A Post From Noel Vento And His Sister Vera

Dr Vento: A Post From Noel Vento And His Sister Vera

Noel wrote...
Mack,
Here is a blog entry penned by my sister Vera and a
picture of my father.


Dr Sebastian J. Vento practiced medicine in Chambersburg
for over 40 years. Unlike some of the other Burg docs our
Dad was not from Trenton. He was born and raised in
East Harlem, New York City in a Sicilian immigrant
neighborhood where he attended public school and saw the
health and disease issues of a crowded tenement community
first hand. He graduated New York Medical College in 1939
and wanted to do his internship "in the country" so he
chose Mc Kinley Hospital in Trenton. He was shocked and
pleased with the fresh air and country feel of Trenton at
that time! There he met our mother Concetta Rago who was a
nursing student at Mc Kinley, now Helene Fuld Hospital..
The Italian cupid took aim and the rest is history! They
were married in 1940 and soon after he rented his first
office on Liberty St. Docs at that time did all kinds of
treatment....cardiology, neurology, ...even taking out
tonsils in the office! My Mom told the story of Dad
sitting in the car waiting for a woman who was in her house
in labor attended by her midwife. When the woman was ready
they turned on the porch light and Dad went in to deliver
the baby and make sure it was all OK.
World War II interrupted everything for everyone and in
Dad's case he was sent to France shortly after D Day to run
a hospital for those GIs who contacted communicable diseases
on the ships and in close quarters etc.It was real
on-the-job training as Docs went into the Army as Captains
and had to assume whatever roles they were given. Back in
Trenton my sister Carol was a baby who did not see her Dad
for 4 years. Luckily my Mom had a huge support system in
the Burg with family and friends.
Dad came back from the War in 1946 and shortly after, they
bought the house at 452 Hamilton Ave. Our mother grew up
on Chestnut Ave and always liked the houses on Hamilton.
Ours was built in about 1906 in the late Victorian style
with columns and a front porch. The house also had a back
yard and garage which to Dad was a real luxury. From the
beginning Dad's office was in this house taking up all but
the kitchen on the first floor. All the docs on Hamilton
Ave lived "above the store" in this way. Family life mixed
in with patient life is something my sisters and I have
always lived with. Vera was born right after they moved
in 1946 and I came along in 1952.
Practicing medicine in the 50's and early 60's in
Chambersburg involved not only being a jack-of-all-trades
but also long evening hours and of course house calls and
hospital rounds. Office hours were in the afternoon and
evening without appointments and Dad stayed till the last
patient was seen. If there is anybody out there who
remembers Dr Vento, they probably recall his "colorful"
language, his jokes and his down to earth style. From our
perspective upstairs in the living room we heard loud
laughter and sometimes tears as any and all medical
conditions were discussed. Many of the visits were
conducted in Italian and if no seats were available in
the waiting room, patients came around to the back door
and sat with my Mother in the kitchen to wait their turn.
Dad had no nurse or receptionist....my Mother functioned
in this role with us kids answering the phone and taking
his messages etc. After Dad died we discovered many of
his pharmacy records where he actually mixed medications
himself which says something about what these old timers
had to know about chemistry and pharmacology.
Sometime in the early 50's Dr Vento became one of the
doctors for the Trenton public school system. He was
assigned both elementary and junior high schools where he
administered the Polio vaccine, did physicals , sports
exams and all around public health medicine. There was a
school nurse at each school who assisted with the care
and reported problem symptoms so that care could be
coordinated. One of those nurses even asked Dad to
give her away on her wedding day. The bond between the
educators and the health staff was a solid one. This,
too, is a thing of the past in public schools, but it
was a great service that many of the chambersburg
docs provided.
When Medicare came along in the mid 60's it was a
real change for Dad ......Though the paper work was
nowhere near what it can be today, it still meant he
added time to his day filling out forms and learning
the new procedures. As he began to age, so, in turn,
did his patients. While patients lived longer they
needed to be placed in nursing homes and this required
all sorts of coordination. I remember when Dad was in
his 70's he would continue to visit his old patients
who had been placed in nursing homes in and around
Trenton. They would reminisce about the old days and
exchange some good jokes until even that became too
much to manage. Dad died in 1993 never having
dismantled his office. I guess he saw himself as the
doctor to the end even though he had become ill and
frail. When my sister Carol did clear out the office
we saw he had kept notes, birth notices and death
notices from all those decades of patients. He
really seemed to be a part of their lives from their
birth to their death.
I see the Chambersburg docs and my Dad ,in particular,
as a moment in time....a time when families and
neighbors were very involved with one another. Dad
did not come from Chambersburg ...yet he had a good
life working with and providing for the people of
Chambersburg. They embraced him as well. I think
this was a time when community ties were very important
and carefully protected. We can all be thankful that
we had that kind of security in our early years.
Salute! Dottore Sebastiano Vento!!
Rest in Peace for a job well done!


This is beautiful. Thank You so much for it.
I of course know plenty of people who went to Dr
Vento. I myself did not but am so happy they can
read all this about him. Its likely some of my
family went to him over the years as he was in
the Burg. God Bless Dr. Vento and his Family.
This is really what the Burg was...great people:)