Introduction
Bernardo “Ben” Doganiero in U.S. Army uniform, 1940s
Bernardo “Ben” Doganiero founded the pharmacy business which has carried the family name in Camden for many years. The Doganiero family has a history in Camden that goes back to at least 1910.
Francisco “Frank” Doganiero and his wife Carmina (nee Mastrullo) were both born in Italy around 1870. The 1910 Census states that Carmina first came to America in 1893, and Francisco came in 1895. It appears that Carmina was with child when she arrived, as oldest son Antonio was born in Pennsylvania around 1893. The family went back to Italy, however, where daughters Jennie and Michela Margaret were born, the latter in Boiano, Campobasso, Italy. The Doganiero’s would returned to the USA by 1905, when son Charles was born in New Jersey on January 5th of that year.
When the Census was taken in 1910, the Doganiero family resided at 833-835 South 3rd Street in South Camden. Francisco Doganiero had established a grocery at 833 South 3rd Street, and had set up his son Antonio in a barber shop at 835 South 3rd Street. The Doganiero family would remain here for many years.
By 1920 Antonio Doganiero had married. His wife Gilda had bore three children by this time, Frank, Bernardo (“Bennie” on the Census Sheet), and Carmela. Dominic, Anna, Antonio Jr. and Robert would all arrive by 1930. Enrico would come after the April 1930 Census. At some point during the 1920s the family had moved to 274 Division Street. That would remain the family’s address until 1957 when the widowed Gilda Doganiero moved to 3008 Mickle Street.
Bernardo Doganiero graduated from pharmacy school in Philadelphia in 1939. His brothers Frank, Dominic, and Enrico also would become pharmacists.
On November 25, 1940 Bernardo S. Doganiero was inducted into the United States Army. He was one of a group of seventeen, the first men from Camden to be drafted into the Army after the draft had been re-instituted.
In 1943 Bernardo Doganiero married Anna Gramenzi, whose family lived nearby in the 300 block of Line Street. The Gramenzi family was and still is in the plumbing and heating business in Camden. By 1947 Ben Doganiero had trained as a pharmacist, and purchased Buono’s Pharmacy at 626 South 4th Street, the corner of South 4th and Beckett Streets. They resided over the store until 1958, when they moved with their son Robert out of South Camden.
Bernardo Doganiero remained in business at 626 South 4th Street until 1967, when he closed his store and with his brother Frank, who owned a pharmacy at South 3rd and Walnut Street, and brothers Dominic (who wrestled professionally as Doc Doganiero) and Enrico, opened a new pharmacy, Doganiero’s Pharmacy Inc., at the corner of South 5th and Line Streets. This business would be short lived, however. Frank Doganiero returned to his shop at South 3rd and Walnut Street. Doganiero’s Pharmacy Inc. was destroyed in the 1971 riot.
Doganiero’s Pharmacy soon reopened at a new location and in a different neighborhood. The new store was at 1552 Mount Ephraim Avenue, not far from West Jersey Hospital. In 1978 Bernardo’s son Robert Doganiero would graduate from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia as a pharmacist. This school was his father and Uncle Enrico’s alma mater. Daughter Jacqueline “Jackie” Doganiero went into teaching — she and her husband, fellow teacher John Minniti both retired from the Cinnaminson public school system.
Around 2000 the Doganiero family business in Camden expanded with the purchase of the Bell Pharmacy, at the corner of Haddon Avenue and Kaighn Avenue.
By 2005 a third generation of Doganiero’s had become pharmacists, when granddaughter Jenna Doganiero graduated from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Grandchildren Marian Minniti Morton and Anthony Minniti are also pharmacists working in the family businesses. As of 2006 Anthony in also the current acting mayor of Cinnaminson.
In the summer of 2006 Bernardo and Anna Doganiero reside in Moorestown NJ, as does their son Robert, who still conducted business at Doganiero’s Pharmacy on Mount Ephraim Avenue.
Bernardo Doganiero passed away at the age of 99 on May 18, 2016.
Army Takes 17 City Youths In 1st Draft Call
Camden Courier-Post —
Survivors of List of 24 Begin Year’s Training At Fort Dix
6 FAIL TO PASS TEST; 7TH AWAITS DECISION
Camden’s first 17 peacetime trainees slept under army blankets in army tents at Fort Dix last night—soldiers at last.
This morning, after being questioned on sundry subjects, they will be issued uniforms and emerge—looking like soldiers.
They reached Fort Dix at 6:10 o’clock last night by bus and had their first taste of army coffee and sandwiches. After a wait of two hours they passed through the initial receiving station and at 8 o’clock ate their first army meal. They were issued blankets and toilet articles, assigned to tents. And so to bed the first members of Uncle Sam’s great draft army that by next June will reach 780,000 men.
The 17 are the survivors of a list of 24 called to service here yesterday morning. Six failed to pass the medical examination and one was held until today for further questioning. Members of the first contingent are: Harry Boody, Jr., 21, of 301 Liberty street; Cecil Graves, 35, of 819 South Second street; Joseph H. Ward, 27, of 2011 Federal street; John M. Bowers, 28, of 128 North Twenty-second street; Arthur F. Ballinghoff, 23, of 2950 Cramer street; George Borland, 30, of 2305 Howell street; Valdo Zannoni, 21, of 614 Point street; Leonard Buffetta, 22, of 604 Point street; William F. Fournier, 26, of 424 Bailey street; Joseph W. Milgala, 23, of 913 Mechanic street; Luca R. D’Oria, 21, of 820 Haddon avenue; James E. Wright, 25, of 541 Washington street; William DiBello, 26, of 621 Henry street; John S. Zawila, 21, of 1471 South Ninth street; Edward J. Haab, 35, of 201 South Sixth street; Theodore N. Guthrie, 25, of 840 Fern street; and Bernardo S. Doganiero, 24, of 274 Division street. Rejected: Jesse Massi, 30, of 813 South Fifth street; Joseph H. O’Hara, 23, of 864 Lois avenue; John Mohollen, 26, of 57 York street; Harvey Goodwin, 35, of 1107 Federal street; Robert Stockdale, 25, of 209 North Ninth street; and Charles A. Williams, 35, of 203 State street. Held for further questioning: Herman Foster, 35, of 819 South Second street.
The Camden detachment was part of a total of 131 reaching the fort, including 15 from Manhattan, 16 from the Bronx, 54 from Newark, 12 from Elizabeth and 17 from Trenton. A detachment of 160 from Rochester failed to arrive owing to faulty train connections. All were greeted by a reception committee composed of army officers, the 71st Infantry band and Company G, 71st Infantry. The trainees were escorted to the initial receiving station, where they were registered and given preliminary army instructions in pamphlet form.
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All Cleared by 8 p.m.
The first 25 men to clear the receiving station were served supper within an hour after their arrival. The last of the draftees did not clear the station until 8 o’clock.
This morning they will have breakfast of oatmeal, French toast, syrup, jam, milk and coffee. Next they will undergo a psychological examination, to be followed by a general examination on family background, talents, ambitions and past activities. These tests are designed to fit each man into his proper niche in army life. Then will come the uniforms, and the making of soldiers will begin.
Camden’s first quota came from Board No. 7, wards 1, 2, 10; No. 8, wards 11, 12; No. 9, wards 3, 5, 6; No. 10, wards 4, 7, 9. The trainees underwent final physical examination at the Naval Militia Armory, after which those passing were inducted into the service by Capt. Charles Seltzer, of the army induction station. The oath they took follows:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America; that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies whomsoever, and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles of war.”
This oath, taken under the Selective Service Act, differs from that taken by the regular recruits to the Army only in the omission of a phrase concerning the term of enlistment and one referring to “bounty, pay and rations.”
Feted by City Rulers
After the induction the Camden boys were taken to Kenney’s Cafe, 531 Market street, where they were the luncheon guests of the City Commission. There, Major Allyne M. Freeman, speaking as the representative of Lt. Col. Lee Sumner, in charge of the army recruiting station here, told them:
“Learn to smile, not to grumble and grouch. You will never be asked to do anything unlawful, but you must obey orders, no matter how hard the job. You must obey, otherwise the army would be a mob.”
As the boys left Camden in an army bus after the luncheon, they were cheered by many who had gathered to wish them luck. Parents, brothers, sisters, sweethearts and friends were there to cheer them on the way.
A similar sendoff is planned in Gloucester tomorrow for a group of 12 men who will leave the headquarters of Board No. 3, Broadway and Monmouth street, at 8:30 a.m. Mayor John F. Gorman, of Gloucester; Mayor R. D. Cranston, of Mt. Ephraim; Mayor N. C. Courtney, of Brooklawn; church pastors, the Gloucester High School band, students, relatives and friends will compose the cheering group.
Gloucester Trainees
Those who enter the service are: William E. Hughes, William J. Maurer, Robert B. Black, Harry Proposki, Benjamin E. Morris, Joseph F. Marini, William D. Spence, William C. Randolph, John F. Gorman and Joseph E. McCann, all of Gloucester; Richard V. Buck, of Mt. Ephraim, and Paul Cipolone, of Brooklawn.
Yesterday’s contingent was the first of the draftees to report for duty. It consists of 18,700 men. Most of the first group will be used to bring Regular Army regiments to full strength. Later, men will be sent to replacement centers, 21 of which are being constructed. The registration totals 16,500,000, from which places were drawn by lottery.
‘I Do Solemnly Swear That I Will Bear True Faith . . .’
And Here’s His Primer on Soldiering
Camden’s first draftees now have a chance to burn the midnight oil over preliminary instructions of the U.S. Army. They received their copies at Fort Dix last night. They are shown grouped around Pvt. Edward Quinn, and Arthur F. Ballinghoff, 23, of 2950 Cramer street, heading the line, receives his copy first.
Camden’s First Group of 17 Conscripts Inducted Into U.S. Army
Camden’s first group of 17 conscripts (top) being inducted into the U.S. Army yesterday before its departure for Fort Dix. The oath of allegiance is being administered by Capt. Charles Seltzer, of the Camden induction station. He is surrounded by members of the Camden city commission. John S. Zawila, 21, of 1471 South Ninth street, is shown (below), receiving his beddings at Fort Dix from Pvt. Otto Muller, of the medical detachment at the receiving station.
Bernardo S. Doganiero, R. Ph.
Camden Courier-Post —
BERNARDO S. DOGANIERO, R. PH.
AGE: 99 • MOORESTOWN, NJ
Bernardo (Ben) Doganiero, on May 18, 2016, age 99 of Moorestown, NJ. Beloved husband of Anna Doganiero (nee Gramenzi). Dear father of Jacqueline (John) Minniti and Robert (Joanne) Doganiero. Loving grandfather of 6 and great-grandfather of 9. Dear brother of Antonio, Enrico, Roberto, and all the late Frank, Carmella, Dominic, and Anna. Ben was a proud WWII Army veteran who served 5 years in England and France. Ben owned and operated his own pharmacy in Camden for many years.
Relatives and friends of the family will meet for the visitation on Friday morning from 11:30am to 12:30pm at the BOCCO FUNERAL HOME, 1300 North Kings Hwy., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations made in Ben’s memory to: St. Joseph’s Indian School (www.stjo.org). To offer condolences, please visit: www.BoccoFuneralHome.com.