Dr. Benjamin R. Gatmaitan, D.V.M.

DR. BENJAMIN RAMOS GATMAITAN, DVMBenjamin Ramos Gatmaitan was the consummate family man, pure of heart and of great faith. He was a former member of the Knights of Columbus and a longtime St. Frances Cabrini Parish parishioner and usher. He loved his wife of 50 years, Rose Admana Gatmaitan, his sons Vicmar and Robert, his daughters-in-law Carol Gatmaitan and the late Melissa Rooney. Of course he truly adored his 6 grandchildren (three boys from Vicmar and three girls from Bob)...Ciaran, Samantha, Mateo, Sophia, Sabrina, and Marcelo. After graduating from the University of the Philippines in 1957 as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, he worked as a Provincial Veterinarian for the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry in Manila and then lived and trained in Tokyo at the Asia Center of Japan. Ben eventually decided to continue his education in the United States, attending the University of New Hampshire as a Graduate Research Assistant receiving his MS in Microbiology. At UNH he also met his future wife Rose, who was also pursuing a graduate degree and who ironically grew up just 10 miles away in the Philippines. Ben and Rose remained in the United States and he went on to a long career in veterinary medicine as a staff veterinarian at Belmont Animal Hospital in Boston, MA, followed by a 12 year career at Merck Sharpe & Dohme as a Research Veterinarian on various medicines such as a black-widow spider vaccine. He later owned and operated the Oxford Valley Animal Hospital in Levittown, PA and finally worked and retired as a Veterinary Medical Supervisor for the FDA & Department of Agriculture. Ben also published several veterinary research articles both in the Philippines and in the US.Everyone remembers Ben for his love of life and family, his dry sense of humor, his love of books of all subjects, classical music, and his three favorite pastimes…swimming, Wawa coffee, and watching (and answering) Jeopardy on TV. He was the life of the party when he played Filipino love songs and Broadway classics on the piano. Ben also enjoyed many travels and pilgrimages to religious shrines in Europe, Israel, and Canada with his wife Rose. He will be missed by all his nephews and nieces, his friends and Filipino Prayer Group from Bucks County, the St. Frances Cabrini Men’s Prayer Group, and his fellow alumni doctors from the Veterinary Medicine (DVM) class of 1957 from the University of the Philippines.Ben was born on August 29, 1934 in Manila, Philippines and he was 83 years old when he entered eternal life on November 30, 2017 at St. Mary’s Medical Center. His last words before closing his eyes to be safely home with our Lord Jesus Christ were made in song, singing “Ora Pro Nobis”…”Pray for Us”.Family and friends are invited to his viewing on Friday, December 8th from 5 pm to 8 pm and on Saturday, December 9th, from 8:00 until 9:00 am at the James J. Dougherty Funeral Home, Inc., 2200 Trenton Road, Levittown, PA. His funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday, December 9th at 9:30 at Saint Frances Cabrini Church, Fairless Hills. Monsignor Michael McCormac, will be the celebrant, whom he held in deep esteem and considered a good friend. The Rite of Committal will follow at Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ben’s name can be made to St. Frances Cabrini Church, 325 South Oxford Valley Rd., Fairless Hills, PA 19030.