Joseph Lombardino

New York, N.Y. — Joseph Lombardino, 84, of New York, N.Y., passed away on Monday, April 16, 2018. Dr. Lombardino worked at Pfizer Central Research from its opening in Groton, in 1959, until his retirement in 1999.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to George and Santina Lombardino, Italian immigrants, he was the first to attend college in his family, graduating from Brooklyn College in 1954. He went on to earn a PhD in organic chemistry from Polytechnic University, accepting a job with Pfizer while they were still located in Brooklyn. At Pfizer, Dr. Lombardino earned more than 50 patents on new chemical compounds, including the patent for Feldene, which would become one of Pfizer’s first blockbuster medicines and the best-selling drug for arthritis worldwide throughout the 1980s. He was an expert in the FDA drug approval process for new compounds, and wrote and lectured extensively on this topic.

Dr. Lombardino’s wife of 57 years, Roberta, passed away two days after Joseph, also in New York. They are survived by their children, Anna-Marie and Richard Melchreit, George Lombardino, Anthony and Ingrid Lombardino, and Joseph’s sister Rosalie Tinnirello, as well as two grandchildren, Robert Melchreit and Daniel Melchreit. They were predeceased by George’s wife, Nina Lombardino.

A Funeral Mass was held on April 20 at St. Joseph’s Church in New York City. He will be buried next to his wife in St. Ann’s Church Cemetery in Turtle Lake, Wis.

Donations in Dr. Lombardino’s memory can be made to the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, Inc., P.O. Box 1002, Lyme, CT 06371, or at www.lymelandtrust.org.