Huntington doctor Peter Jannuzzi dies

Peter Jannuzzi, a World War II veteran and longtime Huntington resident and pediatrician who attended to generations of local families, died Sunday at 86.

Jannuzzi died of natural causes after Easter Mass was said at his Huntington home.

"He had a fantastic life," said his youngest child, Chris Jannuzzi of Tinton Falls, N.J. "He was a very loving guy, but he was very stern and had extremely high expectations. It was wonderful to be his son."

Right out of New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, Jannuzzi enlisted in the Army and served in the 325th medical battalion for the 100th infantry Division. His medical career began Oct. 20, 1944, his son said, when he landed at Marseille, France, as a medic, providing critical medical and surgical support to the 100th Infantry as they pushed northeast across the Vosges Mountains along the German border.

After the combat phase of the war was over, Jannuzzi used his medical skills to tend to survivors at the Dachau concentration camp, where he arrived as part of the liberation force.

After the war, Jannuzzi returned to New York and enrolled at Manhattan College, where he received a bachelor's of science degree in 1951. He earned a doctor of medicine from Georgetown University Medical School in 1955.

He married Brooklyn native Angela Salomone on Oct. 9, 1954. The couple settled in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and Jannuzzi began practicing pediatrics at Kings County Hospital.

In 1962, the Jannuzzis moved to Huntington and Jannuzzi joined the Huntington Medical Group, where he worked in pediatrics for the next three decades, retiring in 1989.

"He had an unbelievable ability with newborns," Chris Jannuzzi said. "He had enormous hands and when he held a baby they knew they were in a good spot. He had a gift for calming infants, it was kind of miraculous."

Jannuzzi is also survived by his wife and six other children: Lisa Benincasa of Sag Harbor, Peter of Farmington, Conn., Angela Schwarz of Huntington, Michael of Huntington, Catherine Berkery of Centerport, and David of Southold; a sister, Regina Girasole of Calverton; and 15 grandchildren.

Visiting will be today from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at M.A. Connell Funeral Home in Huntington Station. A funeral will be held tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. at St. Patrick's Church in Huntington. Burial will follow at St. Patrick's Cemetery.

Correction: A previous version of this story gave an incorrect location for New Utrecht High School.