Peter Salvator Vento
11/14/1905 - 3/12/1988
Pete and Jennie
By Brian Tervenski
There, as it turned out he met a girl, Jane "Jennie" Yeaple , who was a single mother, and he fell in love and married her. Older than Pete and raising her son, Don, on her own, she had not married . Jane was ahead of her times, and as much a rebel as Pete and it was a good marriage. They were deeply in love.
They had another child, Velma. They were about 4 years apart in age. Pete worked as a salesman for Friedman’s Department Store, 69 William St. in Newburgh. Slim and elegant he was a natural , looking always as if he had stepped from the Sunday fashion pages. Soon he was buyer, then manager and when Morris Friedman retired, Pete bought the store and the building.
Pete and Jane never let work or the kids slow them down. Saturday nights with the baby sitter supervising the home front, Pete and Jane went to the Rhoda Arms or one of the many Newburgh roadhouses or nightclubs.
They had another child, Velma. They were about 4 years apart in age. Pete worked as a salesman for Friedman’s Department Store, 69 William St. in Newburgh. Slim and elegant he was a natural , looking always as if he had stepped from the Sunday fashion pages. Soon he was buyer, then manager and when Morris Friedman retired, Pete bought the store and the building.
Pete and Jane never let work or the kids slow them down. Saturday nights with the baby sitter supervising the home front, Pete and Jane went to the Rhoda Arms or one of the many Newburgh roadhouses or nightclubs.
They sang and danced and stayed out late. Sunday afternoon armed with a box of Italian pastries, neatly tied with string, Pete and Jane and the kids would roll up to Nana’s house driving one of his Ford automobiles (he only drove Fords), and it was not until after the pasta course that his hangover started to dissipate. After dinner he and his brothers would talk sports and Pete would regale them with talk of martinis and high balls, and singers that sounded like "Old Blue Eyes".
Pete had a beautiful voice and often sang at family marriages and parties. His children grew up and Don moved to Chicago and Velma married a West Point Graduate, William Grisham, and had seven kids . Pete was an avid bowler & a dedicated member and President of the Elks Club. In 1951 Jane died of cancer and Pete was lost for a while. |
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Pete's 2nd wife
Thelma C. Vento
by Brian Tervenski
Thelma with Pete's grandchildren, Mary and Peter.
But to Pete, life had always been a game to be enjoyed and he knew he had to get back in it. Now still debonair, if somewhat older, he chased women who were anxious to get caught and the catch was Thelma. She was just what Pete needed and now with no kids they went out both weekend nights. Even into his eighties Pete looked good and had fun. The family loved his jokes and stories. The twinkle was still there. Okay, he dyed his hair and the suits were not the latest in fashion, but when he walked into the house on Worrall Avenue he brought the outside world to Sunday Dinner.
Thelma C. Vento of Newburgh, N.Y., born 04/15/1916 in New Windsor, NY, died June 18, 2002 (86 years old), at The Cornwall Hospital in Cornwall. Brooks-DiDonato Funeral Home handled arrangements.