Dr. Dongell began a private medical practice in Gallitzin, Pa., in January of 1962. He settled in Altoona, Pa. In 1978, he plead guilty to two counts of mail fraud and three counts of submitting false Medicare claims. The original charges accused him of submitting over $30,000 in false claims during a three year period. Dr. Dongell, in his defense, said, “I practice in a small community which has an awful lot of poor people. We have no drugstore, so I dispense my own medication, which many couldn’t pay for. . . I added the additional visits to pay for the medication.” In addition to restitution, he was ordered to spend 90 days in jail, relegated to weekends. His death in 1982 was ruled to be from a drug overdose.

Barbara and Robert lived in Gallitzin, Pa.