Obituary for John Joseph Pittari (1931–2026)
John Joseph Pittari, M.D. died on May 31, 2026 in his home on Amelia Island, Florida. He was 95 years old and with loving family when he passed away. John is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 64 years, Patricia Anderson Pittari; their eldest daughter, Mary Catherine; and their youngest child, Natalie Christine. He is survived by their five living children: Carolyn Ann (Kurt Marasco) of Amelia Island; John Joseph, Jr. (Kathleen) of Auburn, Alabama; Jeanne Marie (Paul Hanna) of Sugar Land, Texas; Patricia Ann (John Voss) of Jacksonville, Florida; and Michael Christopher (Karen Beall) of Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

John “Doc” Pittari was born on March 26, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, Catherine Paino Pittari (1906-92) and John Thomas Pittari (1903-78) built a house in Mount Vernon, New York, where John spent the majority of his childhood along with his younger brother, the late Stephen Pittari. John developed an especially strong interest in audio equipment and classical music, building radios and joining the Beethoven Society at Iona Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1948. He attended Fordham University in the Bronx, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1952 and went on to study medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1956.

John met Patricia Anderson during college and they began dating while he was in medical school; the couple was wedded on May 26, 1956, at Saint Simon Stock Church in the Bronx. Early married life encompassed multiple moves as the family grew with each stage of medical training. John completed his internship at Kings County Hospital where Patricia gave birth to their first child, Mary, in 1957. John then served as a military doctor at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Illinois, where their second child, Carolyn, was born in 1958. The following year they moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as John began residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital. Patricia gave birth to their third child, John, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1960, and to their fourth child, Jeanne, in 1961 in Camden, New Jersey. In 1962, John took a position with Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania, where John went on to become chief radiologist. They bought their first house in the Pennside neighborhood of Reading, where Patricia gave birth to their next two children, Tricia, in 1963, and Michael, in 1967. John and Patricia’s love of nature led them to build a house in a wooded section of Jacksonwald, where daughter Natalie was born in 1969 but died in infancy the following year.

In the early-1970s, John and Patricia bought a small condominium on Marco Island, Florida, where John became interested in boating and scuba diving and the family spent time each summer. His love of the Florida sunshine prompted relocation of the family to Fort Lauderdale as he joined a private medical practice, Radiology Associates, in 1973. As the field of radiology advanced, John expanded his clinical scope, including becoming a charter member of the American College of Nuclear Medicine. He was professionally active in the Radiological Society of North America and the American Roentgen Ray Society. In 1987, he accepted a position at Memorial Hospital in Bainbridge, Georgia, where he and Patricia lived until John retired from medicine in 1995.

In 1982, John and Patricia bought a second home in Highlands, North Carolina, and were early supporters of both the Highlands Chamber Music Festival and the Center for Life Enrichment. They established their primary residence on Amelia Island in 1996 but continued to spend four to six months in Highlands each summer and fall until Patricia’s health began to decline in 2017. Throughout the last years of her life, John took an active role in caring for his dear “Patsy Ann.”

As a father, John was often stern but was always supportive of his children and had a playful sense of humor. He instilled in them a deep appreciation for the natural world, whether leading the family on diving trips to coral reefs in South Florida or observing the stars through his telescope. This sense of discovery was inherent to John’s personality; he loved reading maps and driving to new places, taking the family on frequent trips to cities and national parks throughout the U.S. and to the Canadian maritime provinces. John’s love of classical music and support of live performances was also significant; he had an intuitive understanding of symphonic and chamber works, listening throughout the day on the many hi-fidelity systems he installed throughout the family homes. He was also an avid reader of historical biographies, especially military history. After retiring from medicine, John rekindled his interest in short-wave radios and began collecting and restoring vintage audio equipment from the 1940s and ‘50s.

In addition to his children, John is survived by eight grandchildren: John Joseph Pittari, III (Stephanie) of St. Johns, Florida; Francesca Lane Pittari (Craig Wilson) of Opelika, Alabama; John Madison Voss, Jr. (Kelsy) of Jacksonville, Florida; Emma Catherine Voss of Seattle, Washington; Peter Anderson Voss of Jacksonville, Florida; Elizabeth Marie Hanna of Houston, Texas; Asa Maren Pittari and Nina Beall Pittari of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. John is also survived by four great-grandchildren: Zachary John Pittari and Riley Amelia Pittari of St. Johns; Melody Anderson and Luke Morgan Voss of Jacksonville.

A visitation and vigil service will be held on Friday, June 5, 2026 at Oxley-Heard Funeral Home from 5-7 p.m. in Fernandina Beach. A funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, June 11th at 9:30 a.m. at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church in Highlands, North Carolina, followed by the Rite of Christian Burial at Highlands Memorial Cemetery, where John will be interred beside his beloved wife Patricia. (Bryant-Grant Funeral Home, Franklin, NC)

Memorial donations may be made to the Florida Chamber Music Project, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
https://flchambermusic.org