Gary Anthony Piccione, MD, died on Dec. 22 at his residence in Peconic Landing in Greenport, NY. He was 98.
Piccione was a magnificent physician, son, father, grandfather, husband, brother, uncle and philanthropist.
He was kind, funny and deeply spiritual. He understood his purpose to be to relieve the suffering of others through his service and giving, which he did with great expertise, commitment and joy.
He always put his own needs second, but somehow also found time to become excellent at golf, bridge, growing roses and appreciating opera.
Piccione grew up in Rockville Center. He was plenty smart and graduated from Princeton at age 20 and from Columbia P&S Medical School at age 23.
He served in the U.S. Army during WWII and, there, met his bride, Marilyn Radichel. They married in 1947 and were together for 60 years until her death. They were leaders in civic and church matters.
In 1954, Piccione was a founding doctor of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and served there for 46 years. He was physician of the year at North Shore in 1992. He was also in private practice as a general practitioner/family practice specialist in Great Neck for 51 years, during which time he delivered and otherwise served thousands of grateful patients including “courtesy (free) care” for doctors, nurses and teachers, along with those who could not pay cash. He did not hesitate to exchange his services for payments, such as duck eggs, tomatoes, spinach or a handshake.
He is survived by three sons, Gary P. Barth, MD, Paul M. Piccione, PhD, and Richard P. Barth, PhD; their spouses, Kevin, Nancy and Nancy, respectively; five grandchildren, Dylan Barth, Ann Piccione, Christopher Piccione, James Barth and Catrina Barth; and one great-grandchild, Inaya Barth; as well as his beloved little sister, Gloria LaBarbera, and her children and grandchildren.
Piccione will be remembered by all who met him as curious, kind, twinkling, handsome and humble. He made the world a much better place and leaves a legacy of goodness that could never be adequately described, but which revolved around service to others.
Please make any gifts in memory of Gary Piccione to causes which he described, in declining the honor of an annual lecture series in his name in 1999, as “humanitarian causes—starving people, floods, fires, earthquakes, Kosovo, Honduras and Columbia, and not to well-funded institutions.”
