NameDr. Robert P. Fenstermacher Jr.
Birth27 Jun 1924, Allentown, PA
Death12 Jan 1991
FatherRobert Percival Fenstermacher (1891-1976)
MotherDorothy Leh Koch (1892-1969)
Misc. Notes
Born in Allentown, he was the son of the late Robert P. and Dorothy L. (Koch) Fenstermacher. He was brother to Elizabeth"Betsy" (Fenstermacher) Watson.
My Uncle Bob was chairman of the Allentown Hospital Emergency Department until retiring in 1987. From 1950 until 1975, he had a private practice, first at 1619 Linden St. and later at 2200 Hamilton St., both in Allentown. He then reopened Allentown Hospital's emergency department, which had been closed for eight months.
He received his medical degree in 1948 from the University of Pennsylvania, and served his internship and residency at Allentown Hospital. He took his premedical studies at Princeton University and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
He served on the medical board at Allentown Hospital and was a former director of Allentown Hospital, the American Academy of General Practitioners and the American Academy of Emergency Physicians.
Uncle Bob was a physician in the Army Medical Corps during World War II and the Korean War, where he attained the rank of Captain.
Robert Fenstermacher's first marriage was to Joyce Romberger, with whom he had two daughters. His second marriage was to Lorraine.
Many thanks to Dennis for making this memorial, for the grave photography, and for his kind transferral.
My Uncle Bob was a terrific and charismatic kind of doctor. He headed the emergency unit in the Allentown Hospital at 17th and Chew a long time. Fifteen years after his death when my Mom was a hospital patient, her physician mentioned he had trained under "Fensty" which brought a real smile to our faces.
He was our family doctor, and thus my doctor when I was child, treating me for the routine childhood maladies, and for repeated episodes of tonsillitis. Every year we went to him also to get clearance for me to go to summer camp at Camp Hagan, which required you to have a physical and get a doctor's approval that you were fit to go.
When I remember Uncle Bob, I remember "big". He was tall, with a wonderful booming voice, and great hugs that could crack your back. He also served as best man for my dad, when my parents got married.
Our family get-togethers were consistently with my dad's sisters and their spouses and kids, which was cool because they were lively people, and we were were all girl cousins. Such fun, the wise-cracking and laughter rang out during long parties on patios with summer rocking chairs bobbing back and forth, and us kids playing beanbags or badminton. It seemed so normal then, and now there's nothing I wouldn't give to have a summer night with everyone one more time.
Spouses
1Joyce Carolyn Romberger
Birth1 Jan 1925, Allentown, PA
Death6 Apr 1985, Allentown, PA
Birth1937
Death10 Jan 2017, Allentown, PA