John Anthony Lardo

John Anthony Lardo passed away at his home in Edgewood on Friday, February 13, 2026, at age 83.

His courage did not come from reading about life in books but living by the many-colored glory of experience. When by chance in the night crowd Anthony collided with the ultimate love of his life, that first flashing impression for Nancy was a lasting truth revealed: out of the multitudes and despite the odds, here was arriving one of the rare great princes of the cosmos. His comprehensions, like his lion baritone, were astonishing and resonant. At the age of eighty his younger beloved brother would discover long-forgotten high school fashion sketches where Anthony dreamed in uncanny accomplishment until, out of boredom, he left before graduation to open a groundbreaking fully-integrated biracial salon with a business partner, two very different cultures exploring together, free of common prejudices. Three daughters he loved fiercely, accepting full custody after his first union dissolved and again despite common prejudices. His quality and strength did not wane, although the struggle left him unable to return to deep feeling for himself until that starry night of crossing Nancy, that soulmate intertwined for lifetimes, now returned, and for all the rest of his days he would credit her for bringing him back to feeling, to identity, to a life of passionate living. In over fifty years of marriage he embraced the love that passes through our lives, the depths and breadths of loving unconditionally, loving exceptionally, loving with abiding intuition and appreciation and selfless sacrifice. His treasure house filled with family, friends, humor, food, art. He rescued people everywhere. For weeks he hand-stitched the wedding dress for his youngest daughter, still dismantling and refining hours before the service while Nancy, their two hearts always entrained, labored over a tulle cape studded in hundreds of tiny Swarovski crystals, each charm singly sewn onto the capelet until the crystals, all on their own, aligned into the shape of a protecting angel. When unfinished wounds plunged him into his own darkness he fought with a willpower of steel until transformed, returning to education, existential phenomenology, and piercing with that same unfailing spirit the mysteries of freedom, purpose, responsibility, he became a lion of a counselor who could enter the pain of others without fear, only empathy. He treated the very ill and the rejected with utmost dignity, impeccably dressed to demonstrate respect, his hard-wrought mind centered as he strove unceasingly through the hells of others. Out of extraordinary efforts the maverick achieved wisdom and serenity. Two beloved granddaughters produced his next unfoldment, and with light and humor at any hour, all matters great and small for them became his passion: popculture concerts, Swan Lake and the Nutcracker, empurpling an entire bedroom – paint, carpet, even a bench – to turn a dark ferment into the rescue of a safe haven, building together a tree house in the mountains, cooking with so much garlic his Sicilian stock could be surmised well before entering the house, and later embracing with relish their partners as new joyous extensions of vital family that, to his infinite delight, eventually welcomed a first great granddaughter. A soulful beloved grandson and a nephew would carry the mantle of his empathy and compassion, always promising to be back in just the same way Anthony would seek to reassure and to come back. Cherished friends would be too numerous for any account, but all agree upon the underlying current of generosity and love Anthony never lost, a magnificent magnet drawing out the dark to soothe and drawing out the light to magnify, a tremendous readiness to manifest in others all their best hopes, the greatest lessons. With Nancy at his side their psychotherapeutic teamwork uncovered the deeps of many, and the decades of miracles only further shined with his genius for nonjudgmental inquiry, unconditional regard, adventure, travel – Florence, his favorite – architecture, museums, dance - salsa, rumba, waltz, taking to the floor all night at weddings and sometimes, with his beautiful baritone, singing as his savant brother brought out his guitar and played any music by ear - until well-past his own eightieth birthday. At every dance his hand always knew exactly where to rest on the small of Nancy's back, and all their lives she would wait for that perfect moment. In the end, the royal touch was born out in this rare great prince, the power to heal flowing through him to the afflicted without reservation; and as in the God Almighty, the backbone of his faith, his healing touch flows on, through all who continue to love him, for his is a kingdom with no end.

John Anthony Lardo is survived by his loving wife, Nancy P. Lardo; daughters, Danielle Lardo, Francesca Sally, Jessica (David) Landis; grandchildren, Gabrielle (James) Pitts, Alyssa Sally, Zachary Landis; great granddaughter, Madeline Pitts; brother, Albert (Connie) Lardo; nephews Jason Lardo and Albert (Jenny) Lardo; niece Alicia (Jim) Jenkins; predeceased by mother Beatrice Sansone Lardo and father Albert Lardo.

Friends and family will be received at Wolfe Memorial, LLC, Forest Hills Chapel, 3600 Greensburg Pike, Pittsburgh PA 15221, on Sunday, February 22, from 11:00 AM until the time of the funeral at 12:00 PM. Burial in Penn Forest Natural Burial Park, Verona.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in Anthony's memory may be given to Hillman Cancer Center directed toward either the Immunotherapy Research Fund or the Lung Cancer Program Fund, Development Office, UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 1B, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15232.