By JENNIFER H. CUNNINGHAM, STAFF WRITER
CLIFTON Dr. Peter Castiglia, a general practitioner who cared for generations of North Jersey families, died last weekend.
The grandfather of 12 collapsed outside the bedroom of his Holster Avenue home Sunday morning, his son, V. James Castiglia, said. He was 87. The cause of death was unknown Wednesday, but his son said it may have been heart problems.
His children described him as a hard-working, family-oriented father who used to regale them with stories of his hardscrabble childhood during the Great Depression.
“He wasn’t just our dad,” said Dr. Castiglia’s daughter, Margaret Laurilliard, 53, of Randolph. “He belonged to a lot of people. We kind of shared him with the community.”
Sicilian heritage
The Passaic High School graduate was a throwback to a time when doctors made house calls, a consultation only cost $5 and a general practitioner was a jack of all trades. He never owned a cellphone and didn’t know how to use a computer.
“A general practitioner they kind of did everything,” Laurilliard said. “People didn’t go to specialists back then.”
Dr. Castiglia was born on December 18, 1920, to Sicilian immigrant parents. His mother, who spun cotton in Passaic’s mills, and his father, who owned a bakery, instilled in him the value of education.
They paid his way through Ohio University and through Case Western Reserve Medical School. Dr. Castiglia graduated from med school in 1945 and then served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, attaining the rank of captain.
Passaic General staff
After his military service, Dr. Castiglia returned to Clifton in 1949, and opened a private practice at 128 Valley Road.
There, he treated entire families, performed minor surgery, delivered babies and even counseled patients. His family lived just upstairs.
While working at his practice, Dr. Castiglia also was a staff physician for Passaic General Hospital, the predecessor of St. Mary’s Hospital.
He served as chief of the emergency room staff there and also was staff president in the 1980s.
Retired in 1990
Dr. Castiglia’s generosity was legendary. He sent medical supplies, equipment and medicine to his old med school buddy, Father Lou, a missionary in Pakistan.
He retired from medicine in 1990 at age 70, but not before he gave one last gift to a promising young doctor. Dr. Castiglia gave his Valley Road practice to Dr. M. Joseph Russo, who has operated it since 1991.
“He’s a generous, kind individual,” Russo said, “and honestly, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for Dr. Castiglia. I owe him a great deal.”
Dr. Castiglia spent his retirement traveling the world until ill health forced him to stop about 10 years ago.
Looking back on his life, Dr. Castiglia’s children said he taught them responsibility, generosity, a strong work ethic and a love of education.
A last visit with son
Dr. Castiglia’s son Peter, 48, a banker from Needham, Mass., came to New Jersey to visit him the weekend he died, but had no idea that their time together would be their last.
They had dinner on Friday night, and he’d planned to get bagels for breakfast Sunday morning when he heard the news.
“I’m glad we came and saw him,” Peter said. “In a way, it was like fate.”
Dr. Castiglia’s funeral was Thursday. Memorial donations can be sent to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44106.
(c) 2008 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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