Editor’s note: The main story in today’s Pulse section features the Family Practice Centers and founders Dr. Domenick Ronco and Dr. Charles Fasano. Pulse is printed in advance, and we learned with deep regret of the death of Dr. Fasano over the weekend. However, his family asked that The Daily Item publish the article as planned.

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MIFFLINBURG — Dr. Charles P. “Chuck” Fasano, a prominent physician who helped found a chain of Family Practice Centers serving a five-county region, died over the weekend. He was 67.

Friends who reportedly tried to reach him by phone on Friday and Saturday went to his house in Mifflinburg, where they found him lying on the floor. The cause of death has not yet been determined.

“This was a shock to everyone who knew him,” said Dr. Domenick Ronco on Monday.

Born in Lock Haven, Fasano began his professional career as a pharmacist. He received his degree from Temple University in 1963. Five years later, he earned a medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

He met his wife, Rhoda, a Mifflinburg resident, in Lewisburg.

Fasano started a medical practice in Mifflinburg in 1973. In 1980, he and Ronco initiated a joint practice, which grew into the concept of Family Practice Centers.

“After Mifflinburg, we opened an office in Mount Pleasant Mills,” Ronco recalled. “And then we kept expanding. It developed pretty fast. We obviously filled a need. One of Charles’ goals was to bring the highest level of care to the rural areas of central Pennsylvania. He was also very proud that the practice was at the forefront of technology in the Valley.”

There are now 38 doctors in 21 Family Practice Center locations in Snyder, Union, Northumberland, Dauphin, Perry and Lycoming counties.

Fasano’s colleagues remember his ability to make life better for others, his sense of humor and an indefatigable commitment to his patients.

That commitment, however, did not take him away from his family in Mifflinburg, something that still amazes daughter Maria Bhangdia.