Gerald Albert Natale was more than a pharmacist. He was someone who dispensed medical tips and personal financial advice and someone people confided in.
Natale, who ran a pharmacy in northwest Denver for decades, died Christmas Day. He was 88.
Natale, who owned the Tejon Drug Co. at West 33rd Avenue and Tejon Street, was a hardworking, patient, quiet man, his family said.
In fact, he was so nice that once when an armed man came in to rob the store, Natale gave the man half of his own sandwich and then the money.
Natale’s daughter Marilyn Vecchiarrelli of Arvada said her dad told the family later that the robber was nervous and shaky and that Natale thought the food would calm him down.
“His idea was to settle the guy down so he didn’t hurt any of the employees,” Vecchiarrelli said.
After he died, his sister Elizabeth Rotar of Wheat Ridge told Natale’s children, “I sure hope he is in heaven. If your dad doesn’t get to heaven, no one will.”
“He was the most honest man I ever met,” said his son Paul Natale of Englewood. “He was thankful for everything, no matter how slight.”
When Gerald Natale moved to Meridian Retirement Community a few years ago, he enjoyed the people there so much that he told Vecchiarrelli, “This place is like the lobby to heaven.”
Natale worked more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week, sometimes going back after hours and filling another prescription, which he occasionally delivered.
One of his few diversions was going to the horse races at the now-defunct Centennial Race Track in southwest Denver.
His drugstore was a center of activity – where people gathered at the soda fountain, to get a prescription, to seek advice and to visit with friends.
Natale once told family members his customers “are almost like one of the family,” and he was always happy when they recovered from an illness.
His grandson Gerald Joseph Natale II of Littleton said Natale “was a simple man.” Quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, the grandson added, “Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.”
No one could recall Natale being angry.
“Anger was just outside the realm of his possibility,” said his son Gerald Joseph Natale of Littleton.
Gerald Albert Natale was born Aug. 14, 1917, less than two blocks from his drugstore. He graduated from North High School and Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver. He did errands for a drugstore while in high school.
He married Cecelia Meehan on Oct. 13, 1941. They met when she came in looking for a job. She died in 1995.
In addition to his daughter, sons and sister, he is survived by two other daughters, Roberta Manning of Arvada and Jan Green of Arvada; another sister, Amelia Fortunato of Wheat Ridge; 14 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or 303-820-1223.
