"Joey Vento was a colorful, larger-than-life Philadelphian who loved his city and excelled as a businessman," Mayor Nutter said in a statement last night. "Mr. Vento had strongly held views that were matched by a commendable desire to give back to his community."
"Without a doubt, the generosity he showed toward fallen officers' families was beyond philanthropic," Philadelphia Police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers told the Daily News. "He was one of, if not our biggest supporter. He came through every time."
Radio veteran Jerry Blavat recalled stopping for a cheesesteak with Vento about 6 a.m. on Sundays on the way home from his Margate club, Memories.
"He just might have been the last American who believed in the values that he grew up with in South Philadelphia," Blavat told the Daily News. "I'm gonna miss him. It's very sad."
Maureen Faulkner, widow of slain Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, recalled his generosity in the wake of tragedies. She said last night she was "heartbroken" over Vento's death.
"He was the most kind, loving, good man anyone would have ever met," an emotional Faulkner said from her California home. "He always wore Danny shirts in the shop. A lot of Danny's friends and I would go into the shop and talk about what kind of person Danny was."
Geno Vento, 40, Vento's only child, whom he and his wife Eileen named after the shop, said that despite a recent bout with colon/rectal cancer his father's death came as a shock.
"He had a clean bill of health," Vento said last night. "It came out of nowhere."
Vento was known to be in the shop daily from about 4 a.m. until noon, but Geno said his father would spend up to 12 or 18 hours there. "Whatever it took to run the business," he said.
Vento was physically fit and once told the Daily News that he didn't eat many cheesesteaks. But friend Dom Giordano, of Talk Radio 1210 AM, said Vento's family had a history of heart issues.
