Harold Raymond Mancusi-Ungaro Sr., M.D., F.A.A.P.

On September 5, 2010, Harold Raymond Mancusi-Ungaro, Sr., M.D., F.A.A.P., passed away at his California home at the age of 91. Dr. Mancusi-Ungaro was born in Newark, NJ, at home on September 3, 1919. He received his B.A. from Yale University in 1940. Medicine was his calling. He became the eldest in the twelfth generation of physicians in his family when he received his M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in December 1943, part of an accelerated wartime class. During his internship at Newark City Hospital, he met Freda Liebman, his wife of 59 years. Although he chose pediatrics, the war years had him stationed at Finney Hospital in Georgia where he practiced as a psychiatrist. After the war, Dr. Mancusi-Ungaro completed a pediatric residency at New York Hospital. The family settled in Montclair, NJ, where he opened his private practice of pediatrics in their house on January 1, 1949. Professionally, he cared for two generations of children and their children. He retired, thirty years to the day, on January 1, 1979. He and Freda had intended to take three months off to winter in Florida; he never resumed practice. He loved to cook, and made a mission passing his mother's and grandmother's recipes on to the next two generations. In 1996, they moved to Beaumont, TX, to be near their son. They relocated to Santa Rosa, CA in 2002. Dr. Mancusi-Ungaro lost Freda in 2004 after a long illness. In Santa Rosa, he met and later married Sheilah Ryan. He remained active and vibrant until the end. Politics was a constant subject of discussion. He enjoyed many of the local restaurants, and was a proud member and frequent visitor of the Wild Oak Saddle Club in Oakmont. Death came quietly from malignant melanoma. Throughout his life, he easily befriended people, whether his patients, his neighbors, or the local merchants. One Texas friend described him as a true gentleman. He enjoyed a thirty-plus-year retirement. He touched many lives professionally and many hearts personally. He asked his family to celebrate his life, not mourn his death, "I've lived a good life, a long life. I have no regrets. If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change a thing." He lived. Vixit. Dr. Mancusi-Ungaro is survived by Sheilah, his two children and their spouses, Harold Jr. and wife Susan Mancusi-Ungaro of Santa Rosa and Donna and husband Robert Hart of Ann Arbor, MI; Harold Jr.'s children, Harold Themistocles Mancusi-Ungaro and his wife Monica of New York City and Marianna Mancusi-Ungaro of New Orleans; Donna's children Robert Eric Hart and wife Erin of Chicago and Deanna Hart of Ann Arbor. A veteran of World War II, he will be inurned next to Freda in Arlington National Cemetery. The family will communicate the date of the ceremony privately. On Tuesday, September 21, 2010, from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M., friends are invited to celebrate Harold's life at Wild Oak Saddle Club, 550 White Oak Drive, Santa Rosa. Remembrances and memorials may be made in his name to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032. Daniels Chapel of the Roses Cremation and Funeral Services (707) 525-3730