After 47 years in business, 29 of those years on McMurray Road in Bethel Park, a popular mom-and-pop pharmacy has changed hands and its owner is finally thinking about taking time off.

Salvatore "Sal" Gaetano, pharmacist and owner of Gaetano's Pharmacy, sold his business to Spartan Pharmacy on April 1 and the familiar Gaetano sign came down soon after.

Shocked customers still stop in to ask why and Mr. Gaetano, 70, who still works there part-time, explains: "It's time. It's was more than than 47 years without more than a day off."

In fact, Mr. Gaetano said that during those 47 years he missed only four days to illness: He said he had a bad bout with the flu.

His other occasional vacation days were for family events and short trips.

"I didn't look at my job as work," Mr. Gaetano said,

He and his wife made the difficult decision to sell the store for several reasons, in addition to their senior citizen status.

"It's almost like taking away a child that you've given your life to, " Mr. Gaetano said.

The new Spartan Pharmacy is one of three locations in the South Hills; there are two Spartan pharmacies in Bethel Park and one in Brentwood.

Mr. Gaetano will continue to work at reduced hours for the new owners Adam Rice and Kevin McCaffrey.

Mr. Rice said the store remains an independent pharmacy and calls it "the best of two worlds" [Mr. Gaetano's personality and the new technology].

"They are young, energetic and have a lot of drive," Mr. Gaetano said of the new owners.

"It's his lifeblood," said Debbie Schmitt of Bethel Park, a clerk at Gaetano's for five years. "I've seen him put hour after hour in the store. He has his pilot's license but no time to use it. I think this is a great thing for him."

Sometimes the man who filled the prescription was part of the treatment.

"We have customers that come in because of the atmosphere," Mrs. Schmitt said.

"They want to forget that they are sick and Sal made them feel good and helps them look at the blessings rather than the emotional strain," Mrs. Schmitt said.

She said he was always the gracious host, greeting customers from his platform at the rear of the store with a hearty hello, offering them a cup of coffee or tea.

"Sometimes you'd have four or five people sitting around talking. In the winter the fireplace was on and people would sit there," Mr. Gaetano said. "Every day was a new story, every patient a new problem.''

The Gaetano operation was a "mom-and-pop" store because both he and his wife worked there. "She did all the dirty work," Mr. Gaetano said, "the bookkeeping, inventory and payroll. She pulled it all together."

The two have been married for 49 years and raised four children. They have four grandchildren and said they have a large extended family, too.

"All the people who worked for us, they are family. In this business, you get to know the heartaches, the joy, all of it. It's hard for us to leave,'' Mrs. Gaetano said.

For kids in the neighboring communities of Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park its been a rite of passage to be able to cross McMurray Road and go to Gaetano's. Greg Chaffee, 14 and Chris Colditz, 15, both of Upper St. Clair, said that they walked there since they were about six years old.

"I liked going in there because they were always very friendly and wanted to get to know you. Mr. Gaetano would ask how the girls were treating us." Greg said.

His mom, Mary Kay Chaffee, said that "Mr. Gaetano's always had open arms for the kids. There are so few walking communities and the fact that you actually have someplace fun for the kids to walk to is a huge advantage.''

Gaetano's was open every day of the year, even Christmas Day for a few hours.

"Sickness has no holiday,'' Mr. Gaetano said.

Last year Mr. Gaetano was named Pharmacist of the Year by the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Association and given the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ironically, Mr. Gaetano did not plan to become a pharmacist; he wanted to be a musician.

"I thought I'd be the next big band drummer. I never studied in high school, so I thought I couldn't get into college.

"Still, I passed an entrance exam and got in.''

He graduated in the top five percent of his class in 1959.

After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Gaetano opened his first store in 1967 on Brownsville Road, Baldwin Boough, in what was known as the Baldwin Courts shopping center.

The McMurray Road store opened in 1980. For five years he operated both stores working 65 hours weekly, putting in two, eight-hour shifts daily, one at each store. He and his wife sold the store in Baldwin to the employees and kept the Bethel Park store because it was closer to their home in Peters. The Bethel Park store was moved 12 years ago to its current location at 414 McMurray Road.

"God has been so good to us," Mrs. Gaetano said. "People travel far and long for Sal because he cares. He's not the kind of person to really retire. I think he'll always have his hand it in.''