JOHN CHARLES LAROSA, MD

John Charles LaRosa passed away on September 23, 2025.  John was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 17, 1941 to Henry Gaetano LaRosa and Sue Mary Davis LaRosa. He was the oldest of three siblings and was later joined by two sisters:  Barbara LaRosa Smocer and Alice LaRosa Applegate. 

John grew up in Beechview, a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, in a household that included his parents, sisters, grandfather, and great aunt.  The latter two were immigrants from Trabia, Sicily. 

From the immigrants, John absorbed the stories and culture of the old world and, as a precocious child, became the vessel for family hopes for success in the new one.  Through his interactions with his grandfather and great aunt, John’s heritage became a core part of his identity, which he spoke about often and shared with his children. 

From his father, John acquired many things, including the gift of music.  John’s father Henry was an outstanding jazz musician who played regularly throughout the Pittsburgh area.  Under Henry’s instruction, John became an accomplished jazz pianist.  When John was ready, Henry brought him along as the pianist on many of Henry’s gigs.  Treated as an adult while still a teenager, John had the opportunity to observe the follies and foibles of humanity unfiltered and up close, but from the safe distance of the piano bench.  He “grew up fast” and described these experiences as among the best of his life, which he still spoke about with fondness in his 80s.

From his mother, John acquired an artistic streak, great empathy, and an elegance in both appearance and manner.  Although never fully developed, John had a gift for drawing and would sometimes produce portraits and other works of art when inspired to do so.  

From both of his parents, John inherited a love for animals, which he passed on to his children, and a certain idealism, tempered by a realistic understanding of human behavior.

From his neighborhood, John learned to take care of himself.  He was an intellectually inclined young man in a place that valued toughness.  And so he learned how to be tough when he had to be, without losing the kindness and compassion that were distinguishing features of his personality.

From an early age, John was recognized as special.  He was such an outstanding student that he skipped two grades and entered college at the University of Pittsburgh at 16, from which he later graduated at the top of his class.  He then went on to Pitt medical school and graduated first in his class in 1964.  Following medical school, John became the first Pitt medical graduate to be accepted into a residency at the Peter Bent Brigham – a Harvard teaching hospital.

More importantly, John met the love of his life during medical school.  In 1962, John started carpooling with Judie Hoag, who was a nursing student at Pitt when John was in medical school there.  It quickly became clear that the two were meant for each other and they married in 1964.  John and Judie enjoyed 61 years of marriage together and had a son and daughter:  Christopher Henry LaRosa and Jennifer Anne LaRosa.

With his own children, John was careful to transmit the values that he learned from his ancestors.  Education and hard work were on the menu, but so were love and mutual support, through thick and thin. 

And so was music.  When his kids were in grade school, John formed a family band.  John played piano, Judie sang, Jen played flute, and Chris played sax.  To fill out the band, John recruited a revolving cast of other musicians – old and young – from the Washington, D.C. metro area, where the family lived.  The Generation Gap, as the band became known, took off and played many gigs.  For many of those who passed through it, the band was a foundational introduction to jazz music and public performance, a rite of passage that they cherished and never forgot.

In his spare time, John became an internationally renowned medical scientist and distinguished professor of medicine.  Over the course of a long career, John published over 230 academic papers and became a much sought after expert on the link between diet, blood cholesterol levels, and heart disease.  He served as a research scientist at the National Institutes of Health, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, the Chancellor of Tulane University Medical School, and the President of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.   As an expert, John appeared regularly on programs like the Today Show and Nightline and in similar public affairs programs in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and throughout Europe. 

Over the course of it all, John took the advice that he always gave his children.  He tried to leave the world a better place.  And he succeeded.

He will be sorely missed and always remembered by his family and the many other people whose lives he touched.  He is survived by his wife Judie LaRosa, his daughter, Jennifer LaRosa, his son Christopher LaRosa, his daughter in law, Laura LaRosa, his grandchildren Thomas LaRosa, Isabel LaRosa, John Benza, Ryan Benza, Ana LaRosa, and Alexander LaRosa, and his sister, Alice Applegate.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 28, 2025, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Boulevard, Watchung, NJ 07069. A funeral service will follow at 10:30 a.m. and will be available via [LIVESTREAM].