Dedicated pathologist was known for his sense of humor
From his early days as a boy working in a West Virginia steel mill, to a long and successful career as a pathologist and self-made man, Dr. Anthony “Tony” Gialamas made the most of this life.
“I would describe Tony as ‘self-effacing,’” said his longtime friend and colleague Dr. Karl Williams, Allegheny County medical examiner. “He was one of the nicest people on the face of the Earth. And, he was an excellent pathologist. For 22 years, we were both practicing pathologists at hospitals, doing the exact same thing, so I knew I could always turn to him for advice.”
His wife Fran Gialamas agreed.
“He was a brilliant, witty and very humble man,” she said. “I had a really great husband. When we were gathered around him the last few days, I was telling him how I feel privileged to be his wife. I was saying how much I loved him and what a great father and friend he was and he said, ‘ Let’s not get carried away.’”
Also the retired medical director of the laboratory at CORE — the Center for Organ Recovery & Education — Dr. Gialamas, of Fox Chapel, died Saturday of prostate
cancer. He was 93.
He was the son of immigrants. His mother came from the Island of Chios — part of Greece — while his father’s Greek family hailed from what had been Asia Minor.
Dr. Gialamas was raised during the Great Depression in Weirton, W.Va., where he delivered newspapers as a boy and later joined his father working in the local steel mill.
“When he was delivering the newspapers, he would read them,” his wife recalled. “He used to call himself a ‘newspaper junkie.’ He read everything in sight — he was a voracious reader.”
Workers at the mill knew him as a smart kid from the neighborhood, and they worked to keep him safe in what could sometimes be dangerous work, Mrs. Gialamas said.
“He was a skinny little kid and they all looked out for him,” she said. “They wanted him to go to college and make something out of his life.”
Dr. Gialamas considered a career as a Greek Orthodox priest but decided against it.
“It’s ironic that he decided to go into pathology, because he didn’t want to be a priest, having to deal with people who died,” she said. “Then he became a pathologist and did autopsies. He was really a born doctor.”
The couple met through a blind date in 1955 and married four years later.
Dr. Gialamas studied premed at West Virginia University, graduating in 1951, before earning his medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia, part of the Virginia Commonwealth University.
After an internship and residency at hospitals in Ohio, Dr. Gialamas enlisted in the Navy, serving at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Quantico, Va. for two years.
He continued training in pathology at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital before accepting a post in 1960 as director of laboratories at Franklin Hospital in Venango County.
At Franklin, Dr. Gialamas opened the hospital’s first blood bank and became the first full-time director of pathology.
It was also where he crossed paths with Dr. Williams.
“When he was working at Franklin Hospital, I was working at Ellwood City Hospital,” Dr. Williams recalled. “We often consulted with each other.”
By 1969, Dr. Gialamas returned to Pittsburgh to run his own pathology practice for 14 years.
In 1983, his practice joined with Roche Diagnostics, of Indianapolis.
“He merged with Roche and that’s how they got a foothold in Pittsburgh,” his wife said.
Dr. Gialamas worked as the director of the Roche Medical Laboratory in Pittsburgh until 1990, when he served as an independent lab director.
He retired briefly in 1995, but just two years later, agreed to join the CORE facility at RIDC Park in O’Hara.
“He was retired for a very short time when CORE called him and asked him to organize their new lab,” his wife said. “He loved organizing laboratories. He was supposed to be there for a year but he stayed on for years.”
“CORE decided that we wanted to open our own laboratory,” said retired lab director Karen Brown, who worked alongside Dr. Gialamas from 1997 until his retirement, about 15 years later. “We actually started the lab and wrote all of the policies. We were the first infectious disease testing lab for organ tissue and cornea donation that was located within the organ procurement facility.”
“Dr. G was wonderful. He was humorous and witty. He loved to tease you to tell you jokes — he was just a people person,” Ms. Brown said. “There wasn’t a day that he didn’t visit our technologists to see how they were doing. We kept in touch over the years. I’m going to miss that man dearly.”
“He really was stellar in leading our infectious disease testing lab,” said Susan Stuart, CEO of CORE. “He made it a quality lab — he elevated it and took us to a new level of testing with state-of-the-art technology. He really was a brilliant man with a phenomenal sense of humor. He was just a great man.”
Throughout his career, Dr. Gialamas made important contributions to the medical field, including autopsy findings that would halt the use of some drugs.
At home, he loved reading, writing fiction and learning about anything and everything.
“He supported all of my endeavors,” said his wife, a notable local artist. “He was a fiercely loyal friend, a family-first father and husband, and a Renaissance man. He was a lovely human being.”
Along with his wife, Dr. Gialamas is survived by his children James A. Gialamas, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Roy Parlour of Aspinwall and Elena Cerri, of Shadyside; his sisters Katie Giannirakis, of Weirton, and Presbytera Catherine Pachis of Peters; and four grandchildren.
Friends will be received at John A. Freyvogel Sons, 4900 Centre Ave. at Devonshire Street in Oakland from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, with the Trisagion service at 5 p.m.
Visitation will continue Monday from 10:30 a.m. until an 11 a.m. funeral service at Dormition of the Theotokos Church, 12 Washington Road, Oakmont, Pa., 15139, officiated by Father Christopher Bender.
Remembrances in Dr. Gialamas’ name may be made to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox cathedral, 419 S. Dithridge Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, St. Moses the Black Orthodox Christian Mission, 2038 Bedford Ave., Pittsburgh 15219 or The Neighborhood Resilience Project at the same address, or the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, 100 43rd Street, Pittsburgh 15201.