Dr. Peter J. Marchisello dies; surgeon helped transform lives

A surgeon credited with transforming the lives of his patients, one of whom still remembered him decades later, has died at age 94.

Dr. Peter Joseph Marchisello, who split his time between Bayside, Queens, and Florida, died March 24 of aspiration pneumonia, surrounded by family at Glen Cove Hospital, his family said.

Marchisello’s work greatly impacted his patients, including one he treated nearly 30 years ago who cried next to his coffin.

“He was an amazing man and he gave me a much better life because of what he did for me,” Suzanne Beltrami of Westbury, said, her voice cracking. “Because of him, I led a normal childhood.”

Marchisello was born Dec. 10, 1923, in Manhattan, to Italian immigrant parents Giovannina and Juiliano Marchisello. He grew up in Astoria and graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School, his daughters said.

He attended Manhattan College until he was drafted into the Army, where he served as a surgical technician and where his interest in medicine began, his daughters said.

He graduated from New York University Medical School in 1948 and completed his medical and surgical residencies at Harlem Hospital Center and the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, his family said. He started in general surgery and moved into orthopedic surgery, largely treating children in the beginning of his career.

“He liked to make things better and make things right,” daughter Marianne Paruch, of Bayside, said, noting that his large “surgeon hands” were very comforting.

He worked simultaneously at Hospital for Special Surgery, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the now defunct St. John’s Catholic Medical Center in Queens until his retirement about 1995, his family said. He was the chief of the lower back clinic at HSS and chief of orthopedics at St. John’s Catholic Medical Center, they said.

Marchisello also served as medical officer for the FDNY from 1991 to 1994 and as a consultant for the Bureau for Handicapped Children from 1970 to 1982.

Marchisello met his future wife, Winnie, at St. John’s, where she worked as a nurse. They married in 1948, raised seven children and lived in Queens. They began “snowbirding” to Key Biscayne, Florida, about 1980.

Marchisello, who family members described as charismatic and “one of the last patriarchs,” spent a lot of time golfing at North Hills Country Club, where he was a member. He also played bridge at the shuttered Vanderbilt Bridge Club in Lake Success.

Besides Paruch, he is survived by three other daughters, Mary Jo Termini of Locust Valley, Geralyn Marchisello of Glen Oaks, Queens, and Winnie Pritchett of Key Biscayne; sons Peter Marchisello of Oakland Gardens,Queens, and John Marchisello, of Bayside; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

His wife and son Christopher predeceased him.

Services were held March 27 at Doyle B. Shaffer Funeral Home in Little Neck. A Mass was celebrated March 28 at Sacred Heart Church in Bayside.

Peter Marchisello was cremated. Plans for interment are pending.

The family asks that donations be made to the Hospital for Special Surgery, Sacred Heart Church or ipadsforsoldiers.org.

By Rachelle Blidner

rachelle.blidner@newsday.com@rachelleblidner

Rachelle Blidner covers Suffolk County government, politics and breaking news.