Kathy (Banze) DiGiacomo, who spent most of her 25-year Pitt career as the administrator for the chairman’s research division labs in the Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, died Sept. 3, 2024, at 66.
DiGiacomo “was basically the heart of the lab and she was what we called colloquially the lab mom,” said Melanie Scott, one of the primary investigators in those laboratories and now vice chair for Research in that department. To those having a tough day at work, DiGiacomo would “offer a kind word,” Scott recalled. “She was such a lovely person.”
DiGiacomo also took on the task of running the department’s T32 training grants, an NIH-funded program for residents to gain experience in research across several years. That included a lot of trainees from foreign countries, for whom DiGiacomo became their go-to departmental contact. “She was a real integral part of the lab and she touched so many people who came through the lab,” Scott said.
DiGiacomo was the first person Scott met when arriving at Pitt to apply for her own postdoctoral position, becoming her campus guide, from meals to meetings. “She was a superstar at dealing with all of that,” Scott recalled. “She became a great friend.”
DiGiacomo introduced Scott, who is from the UK, to Pittsburgh sports, from high school to the pros. She took Scott everywhere from Steelers’ training camp in Latrobe, where she watched then-quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in action, to a Central Catholic high school football game, where the band and the overall atmosphere were a new phenomenon, Scott said. She even took Scott to Halloween parties and other family events.
Debra Williams — lab manager of the division, with DiGiacomo on her team — remembers their working relationship as “quite the journey, in which the Department of Surgery research labs flourished and helped to launch many successful clinical and academic careers.” DiGiacomo, says Williams, was an integral part of a team “that made it possible for hundreds of researchers of all levels and nationalities to conduct their early research training. Kathy was dedicated, smart, funny, empathetic … a great listener. Her door was always open — to say hi, to ask how you were adjusting to life in Pittsburgh, or what can I do for you, or just to chat about you or the topics of the day. “
She and DiGiacomo sometimes kept late hours, Williams remembers: “She went above and beyond for everything she did. She was one of those rare people who comes along at the right time and in the right setting.
“When I think of the hundreds of people that Kathy interacted with from all over the world over two decades, it makes me smile that she is remembered so fondly by so many.
DiGiacomo was born Sept. 19, 1957, and retired from the University in 2020. She had previously spent many years working for West Penn Cardiology Associates.
She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Steven J.; daughter Kristin M.; son Matthew “Hoss” J. (Jennifer); and grandchildren Aidan Brunner and Josie, James and Justin DiGiacomo, as well as siblings Jim (Nancy), Carol (Mike) Gapsky and Patti (Tracy) Banze; sister-in-law, Doreen DiGiacomo; brother-in-law Ron Culley; and nephews Jimmy Gapsky and Jacob Banze and niece Alyssa Banze.
Her family plans to hold a celebration of her life from noon to 6 p.m. Oct, 6 at West View VFW Post 2754, 386 Perry Highway.
— Marty Levine