SYRACUSE — Anthony Pietrafesa said his parents were “great with their minds and good with their hands.”

The late Richard Pietrafesa was trained as a tailor, according to the younger Pietrafesa. “There’s nearly a hundred different operations that go into making a man’s suit and he knew them all,” he said.

Anthony Pietrafesa went on to say it was “important” because in manufacturing, “everybody’s got to be on the same page.”

“So, training was part of his job and in the course of his career, he trained hundreds of people,” he noted, adding a lot of the people he trained were immigrants who settled on Syracuse’s North side.

His mother, Sarah, was a concert pianist, having been trained in conservatories in Boston and Paris and having played with symphonies, including the Boston Pops.

The Pietrafesas taught their children “to cherish the joy of a job well done.”

“… which starts not just with a good foundation, a good education but understanding that learning is a lifelong process that only gets better with the discipline of training and practice,” said the younger Pietrafesa.

He delivered remarks as St. Joseph’s Health on June 20 dedicated and renamed its North side training center in honor of his parents, Sarah and the late Richard (Dick) Pietrafesa.

The center, located in a former HSBC Bank branch location, operates at 500 N. Salina St. at the intersection with Butternut Street.

The Pietrafesa family has been part of Syracuse’s Northside community since the early 1900s, St. Joseph’s Health said in a news release.

Richard Pietrafesa was the son of Joseph J. Pietrafesa, who started the well known clothing manufacturer that bore his name and operated on North Salina Street.

Training activity
The Sarah and Richard Pietrafesa Training Center serves as the primary training location for hospital staff.

St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center formally opened the facility on Feb. 28, 2014 to train employees for the launch of a new system-wide electronic health record known as SJLinked.

It will also house healthcare-related learning and professional-development training programs provided through St. Joseph’s partnership with Onondaga Community College (OCC).

OCC’s economic and workforce-development program will help those who come to the Pietrafesa Training Center to train for jobs in the medical field, Casey Crabill, president of Onondaga Community College, said in her remarks at the June 20 event.

“Employers have told us [the] positions they will need to fill and the information future employees will need to know in order to be successful in those positions. It’s our job to prepare them,” said Crabill.

Students can use their training to pursue careers in phlebotomy, medical billing, medical secretary, and medical assistant, she added.

The donation
The late Dick Pietrafesa was dedicated to his family’s clothing-manufacturing business, St. Joseph’s Health said.

When he died in 2013, his wife and children sought to honor his life and achievements in a way that would “benefit the community and recognize his contributions,” according to St. Joseph’s Health.

“Much to Sarah’s surprise,” her children planned to honor her as well, with a donation to St. Joseph’s Health, the organization added.

“I can speak for my mom and certainly for my dad that they’d be thrilled with the opportunities that this building and this partnership will give to the next generation that comes through the Northside,” Anthony Pietrafesa said in his remarks during the dedication ceremony.

“The Foundation is truly honored to be the recipient of a gift from the Pietrafesa family which ensures the continued opportunity for growth within this neighborhood,” Vincent Kuss, VP of development for the St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center Foundation, said in his remarks to open the event Monday morning.

HCP inquired about the dollar amount of the Pietrafesa family gift, but the Foundation said it doesn’t reveal donation amounts.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com