'Doc Hope' eases into retirement from West Newton veterinary clinic

Rick Sestito of Clairton brought his black 9-year-old cocker spaniel Bristol to Hope Veterinary Hospital just outside West Newton.

Dr. William Donald Hope Jr., who has owned the practice for 38 years, X-rayed the dog and talked to Sestito about surgery.

The dog had a torn ligament in his knee, but Sestito joked that he was just glad Bristol had shed about 4 pounds since his last visit.

“Doing better than his vet!” Hope joked.

Sestito said he has been bringing pets to the clinic since Hope opened the practice.

“There was this little guy with the same name as you; he was a little thinner,” he jabbed at the veterinarian.

Hope, 64, known by most as “Don” or “Doc Hope,” will finalize the sale of the clinic on Thursday and “semi-retire,” citing some health concerns. He plans to continue to work for the new owners two to three days per week.

“Actually, I should've done it a year or two ago,” he said. “I want to practice until I have one foot in the grave and the other one on a banana peel.”

A Lycoming Township native, Hope earned his undergraduate degree at Penn State University and a veterinary medical doctor degree from University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1975.

“I'm a country boy. ... I like the country atmosphere” in West Newton, Hope said. “The people are country folk who don't take themselves very seriously. They realize nobody's perfect, so they work with you and you work with them.”

Commendations line the hospital's waiting room, including one recognizing him as 1994 Volunteer of the Year from Downtown West Newton Inc. and another for his 25 years with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Hope, who has traveled across the country to hunt and fish, helped fund the Three Rivers chapter of the elk conservation group, which organizes an annual banquet that has raised more than $3 million during that time, Chairman Bob Todovich said.

“When he gets involved, he goes full-tilt,” Todovich said.

Among numerous projects through his work with West Newton's Rotary chapter, Hope spearheaded the construction of Rotary Field at Goehring Park off North Water Street, which was once a trash dump.

Rotary secretary Dee Taylor said Hope is always energetic and giving and has a good sense of humor.

“He works hard, there's no doubt about it, so he deserves to rest a little,” Taylor said.

His daughter, Netty Hope-Sasso, said that spirit comes from his outlook on life.

“He's had an amazing career,” she said. “The way he looks at life ... he's so fortunate. And when you're that lucky, you should help other people — people and animals alike.”

She is one of eight children raised by Hope and his late wife, Carol, in a well-known blue and purple Victorian house on Vine Street in West Newton her mother called “Whispering Amethyst.”

Hope said he bought the 1887 home as a Christmas gift for Carol just about a century later, jokingly calling it the “Purple Monster” or the “Nightmare on Vine Street.”

Hope-Sasso said that whether friends know him from the house, his community service or his veterinary practice, they usually like his hard-working, straightforward attitude.

“He's just go, go, go,” she said, adding that she's not sure he'll ever fully retire.

The new practice will be renamed West Newton Animal Clinic this week when Aaron Hofmeister takes over as full-time veterinarian. Hope and his partner, Richard Fondrk, will continue part-time.

The business group, Westmoreland Veterinary Associates, also owns Latrobe Animal Clinic and Mt. Pleasant Animal Hospital.

“They're local boys, they know the area, they know how to treat the people,” Hope said.

Originally from Monongahela, Hofmeister said he appreciates how well-established Hope is in the community.

“We plan to continue on that legacy,” Hofmeister said, who will start seeing patients May 4.

A few staff members will stay on, but not Jennifer Orsini of Perryopolis, who has worked there for 18 years.

“He's more or less family,” she said of Hope. “Things will definitely not be the same.”

Hope said he still enjoys the challenge of treating every patient. Today owners are more likely to want their pets treated like family members than years ago, requesting blood tests, scans and surgeries.

“Forty years, and I still see things I've never seen before,” he said.

After this week, he'll be able to spend more time hunting, fishing, and enjoying his four granddaughters while continuing to help people and animals.

“A whole lot of the clients that come, I consider them friends. It's hard to just walk out and say, ‘Bye,' ” he said.

Stacey Federoff is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-836-6660 or sfederoff@tribweb.com.