STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Dr. Francis Romano, 94, of Eltingville, a legendary Staten Island physician who delivered babies, set broken bones and removed tonsils and appendixes during his long and accomplished medical career, died Tuesday at home.
He was born and reared on Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy to immigrant parents from Naples who were proprietors of the former Vesuvio Ristorante in the neighborhood.
His parents sent him away to school to protect him from the perils of the area, and he graduated from Carson Long Military Academy in New Bloomfield, Pa., with honors. Dr. Romano always held the school close to his heart and was a fervent supporter.
He was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University, and received his medical degree from New York Medical College, both Manhattan.
The Romanos spent summer months in a home on Lily Pond Avenue in Arrochar, and when Dr. Romano opened his private practice in 1947, Arrochar became his community of choice, with his offices at 45 McClean Ave.
On his first day, a snowstorm walloped the Island, making streets impassable, and especially in hard-hit South Beach and Arrochar. But that that didn't stop him. With the help of a sled, and medical supplies in hand, he made it to the home of a patient on Lamport Boulevard.
The third day after the storm, the owner of a Jeep with snow chains heard about Dr. Romano's diligence and rang his bell, asking, "Are you the kid who's been going around treating people?" The stranger, who soon became a friend, then chauffeured Dr. Romano all day, enabling him to expedite his house calls.
"Dr. Frank Romano in his day was the icon doctor of South Beach," said Dr. Vincent Sottile, a New Dorp gastroenterologist. "He took care of the community in all kinds of weather. He was a dedicated physician who cared for his patients and they cared for him."
Over the years, Dr. Romano's practice eventually grew into a partnership and was incorporated as the Island's first medical group. At his insistence, it became the first to offer regular Sunday office hours, with a group physician and a covering doctor available 24 hours a day.
In speaking of Dr. Romano's dedication to his patients, Dr. Louis Grecco, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, described his friend and colleague as a "doctor's doctor."
Dr. Romano retired in 1997, but continued to be held in high esteem by his longtime patients and friends, not only for his medical knowledge, but for his professionalism and dignity, his charitable nature and community leadership.
Dr. Daniel Megna, Dr. Sottile's medical partner, noted: "Dr. Frank Romano was a great friend, a fine physician and a loving individual who was loved by all the people he cared for. And he left a legacy of fine physicians to carry on his work. He's an icon in medicine who all of us will miss dearly."
Dr. Romano was responsible for getting the first true cardiac life-support ambulance in the United States to the former Staten Island Hospital in 1969, funded by the Staten Island Kiwanis Club.
He served as president of the Richmond County Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians and was a fellow and past president of the American Academy of Family Practice, two organizations he helped form.
In 1959, he founded and became medical director of Lily Pond Nursing Home, the first private nursing home on Staten Island. He also helped found Staten Island Hospital's early support groups, the Coronary Care Club and the Pediatric Care Club.
Dr. Romano's legacy lives on through his many friends, former patients and supporters who are always eager to share stories about his expertise and compassion.
Said his children, Dr. Lynn Romano, an internist in Delaware, Dr. MaryEllen Romano, a gynecologist in Bloomfield, and Dr. John Romano, a Manhattan dermatologist, said: "We were really blessed with two loving parents who really put our needs first, cared for us and encouraged all of us -- especially the women -- to become physicians."
Dr. Romano's wife, Grace, died in 1999.
Surviving, along with his children, are five grandchildren.
The funeral will be Thursday from the John Vincent Scalia Home for Funerals, Eltingville, with a Mass at 11 a.m. in St. Clare's R.C. Church, Great Kills. Entombment will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery, Grasmere.