VENANGO — When Dr. John Nesbitt walked into the Venango Valley Country Club with his wife, Lucy, Friday night, he thought they were there for a nice, intimate dinner with a few friends. But as he was about halfway down the stairs leading into the dining room and seeing about 40 friends, colleagues and family members waiting, he realized that the evening was going to be anything but quiet.

After glancing across the room and seeing all of the well-wishers who had come to celebrate his retirement from Pioneer Medical Associates, his eyes rested on his three sons, Eric, Andy and Matt, who had been waiting for the grand entrance. Nesbitt looked at them, smiled and said, “No clue — no clue at all. This is amazing.”

Nesbitt, who is an internist that has practiced in the Meadville community for more than 36 years, announced recently that he would be “retiring” from the medical practice. But at the shindig that was thrown by his colleagues, he was quick to point out that in no way did it mean he would be hanging up his stethoscope!

“I’m not cut out for a rocking chair,” he said. “And

while my golf game could really use some work, I’ve got other plans.”

Nesbitt’s plans include “fishing and puttering around the house,” as well as following in the footsteps of his friend and former business partner Dr. David Kirkpatrick as the newest director of the Meadville Area Free Clinic on Chestnut Street.

“I can’t think of a more satisfying way to make a living,” Nesbitt said. “And if I had a choice to do it all over again, I would.”

According to Nesbitt, his desire to go into the medical field began when he was a teenager when was working for a doctor. Unlike some kids who outgrow the notion, he said, “the idea just stuck.”

Nesbitt graduated from Swarthmore College and Western Reserve Medical School, which is now Case Western Reserve University. And shortly before beginning his medical career in Meadville, he married Lucy, and together they had three sons –– none of whom are doctors.

“Lucy put up with me being a doctor,” he said with a smile, “and for us it was never a serious problem.” And with regards to his sons’ careers, Nesbitt said he thinks they steered away from medicine because they heard him “getting called out too much in the middle of the night.”

Throughout his career, Nesbitt said the most fulfilling thing he has experienced has been the opportunity he has had to teach others about medicine. And, with multiple Meadville Medical Center “Teacher of the Year” awards under his belt, he certainly has the knack for it.

Dr. Chris Thomas, who is Nesbitt’s friend and colleague, called him a “compassionate man and a really great teacher.”

“I’ve worked with Dr. Nesbitt for about 14 years,” Thomas said, “and the impact that he has had on the medical community here is almost inexpressible. He is a doctor of the highest quality.”

Other coworkers in attendance at the retirement party Friday included Debbie Tartaglione, who is an administrative assistant at Pioneer and has worked with Nesbitt for more than 11 years.