A Gift of Gratitude
By Kate Grip Denon. Photo by Kevin Harkins.
When Bartley G. Cilento M.D. '57 embarked on a road trip to visit Saint Anselm College in 1953 from St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J. with friend and classmate, Martin Mager '57 (who would go on to become Father Martin Mager, O.S.B '57, monastic superior of the Woodside Priory School in Portola, Calif.), he had no idea he was headed toward a place that would become an integral part of his life.
"Martin had family in Manchester, N.H., and that's how it started," he says. "We hopped into his old jalopy, and left a trail of smoke behind us all the way from New Jersey to New Hampshire. When we arrived, and were greeted by Father Paul Houde, O.S.B. on the steps of Alumni Hall, I just knew this was the place, it was love at first sight really."
Another kind of love at first sight soon followed on the Hilltop when he met his future wife and nursing student Margaret (Doyon) Cilento '60. It is in her memory that he has given $50,000 to establish the Margaret D. Cilento '60 Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund.
While he is honored to be helping the students of Saint Anselm College with this gift, creating something in memory of his late wife is even more gratifying. "The fund is a way to not only support the college, but it's a way of recognizing Margaret," he says. "None of this would have been possible without her."
By "this" he is referring to a nearly 40-year career as a pediatrician in Scituate, Mass., which included being president of the medical staff of South Shore Hospital. He was also a medical officer in the U.S. Navy, serving in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1982 through 2000, retiring with the rank of Captain. Not to mention raising eight children with Margaret.
After graduating with a B.A. in biology from Saint Anselm, he headed to medical school at Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry (now Rutgers New Jersey Medical School). During his sophomore year, he learned of a program that offered service in the Navy for a small stipend, so he decided to join. "This took me on one adventure after another, and brought me to places such as Newport, R.I., Jacksonville, Fla., Pearl Harbor, and Naples, Italy."
After completing his internship at the Naval Hospital in Newport, R.I. and his residency in the pediatrics department at the Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Mass., he joined a former pediatrician already in practice in Scituate in 1967. For the next several decades, he dedicated himself to helping the children and families of Scituate. "The work itself, working with children and their families, was most gratifying," he says. "Pediatrics is such a happy space in the medical field, it's a happy time for everyone."
He practiced medicine until retiring in 2000, and received many distinguished awards for his service, including the 2016 Award for Distinguished Service to the Massachusetts Medical Society-one of the most prestigious awards given by the society. He also holds the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for Distinguished Service.
Today, his connection to Saint Anselm is just as strong as when he first arrived on the steps of Alumni Hall. Five of his eight children went on to graduate from the Hilltop (Bartley Cilento, Jr., M.D. '82,Margaret Bushey '83, Barbara Saad '84,Germaine Foster '85, andMatthew Cilento '87), not to mention four grandchildren ( Anthony Murphy '14, Thomas Murphy '16, Kimberly Cilento '16 and Andrew Cilento '18). He has also served as the Chair of the Golden Anselmians since 2014.
For Cilento, the creation of the Margaret D. Cilento '60 Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund is a way to express his gratitude: to his late wife, Margaret, and the institution that brought them together. "I wouldn't be where I am today without Saint Anselm," he says. "Creating this endowment was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. "Saint Anselm is not just a school I went to, it's family."
