Dr. Dominic Frank Chimento, a retired physician and a former chief of surgery at the Westerly (RI) Hospital, died peacefully at his home in Derry, NH on July 30, 2003. He was 88 and death was from natural causes.
Dr. Chimento practiced medicine in Westerly from 1950 until his retirement in 1994. An internal surgeon and also a general practitioner in the old style, he made thousands of house calls, delivered scores of children, and was a friend and counselor to generations of Westerly patients and physicians. In 1984 the Town Council presented him with a Certificate of Appreciation for his years of service to the community.
Dr. Chimento was born in 1914 in Westerly, the son of Italian immigrants, Francesco and Angelina (Groccia) Chimento. He graduated from Westerly High School (1933), the University of Rhode Island (1937), and was awarded his medical degree from St. Louis University (1942). He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Rhode Island Medical Association, the Washington County Medical Society and the Staff of the Westerly Hospital.
During World War II he served in the European Theatre as a Captain in the Medical Corps, US Army. In 1946, he returned to St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis, IN to complete his three year surgical residency and also to marry Florence (Johantges), who had waited for him and who was at his side until his passing. In his retirement, Dr. Chimento devoted himself to his family. He was especially thrilled this spring to see Funny Cide, a horse foaled and raised by his daughter, Anne McMahon, of Saratoga Springs, NY, win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
Dr. Chimento is survived by Florence, their three children, George, Anne and Donna (Moltenbrey), eight grandchildren, and two great grandchildren, with a third to arrive shortly. The Doctor is also mourned by his brother, George, the last survivor of five siblings, by beloved nephews, nieces and their children, and by the many people whose lives he touched so deeply.
There are no calling hours. A memorial mass will be celebrated on Monday, August 4th at 11:00am at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Crystal Ave., Derry, NH. Gifts in his memory may be given to the Westerly Hospital Foundation, 25 Wells St., Westerly, RI 02891 or the American Cancer Society, Gail Singer Memorial Bldg., 360 State Rt. 101, Suite 501, Bedford, NH 03110-5032. The Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 15 Birch St., Derry, NH is handling the arrangements.