Pete Orobello
Dr. Peter Orobello; helped transform All Children's Hospital
DR. PETER OROBELLO DIED WHILE ON HIS MORNING RUN SATURDAY.
By,Waveney Ann Moore Former Times Reporter
ST. PETERSBURG — The outpouring on Facebook reverberates with gratitude and sadness from parents whose children Dr. Peter Orobello treated as recently as a few weeks ago and as far back as a quarter of a century.
"Watching my baby girl dance to music may sound like no big deal, but we will never forget that she can only hear the music thanks to Dr. Orobello," says one post.
"He was my son's doctor. So kind and compassionate," reads another.
Dr. Orobello, a surgeon who specialized in treating ear, nose and throat problems in children, died Saturday morning while on his morning run. His wife, Jill, said her husband, a marathoner, died of a massive heart attack. They had celebrated their 31st anniversary in March. On Aug. 30, he would have been 60.
"He's a man who has touched the lives of thousands of children and family members all through the region," said Dr. Paul Danielson, chief of medical staff at All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine.
"When he came here, All Children's was essentially a community pediatric hospital. He was one of the few key individuals who transformed this place into a major pediatric, subspecialty hospital. That transformation laid the foundation for what we are today."
Shelly Ash, an audiologist who coordinates the cochlear implant team at All Children's and worked with Dr. Orobello for 15 years, called him a visionary. "He was always trying to think of ways to better serve the patient," she said.
Lesli Williams, marketing manager for Dr. Orobello's Pediatric Ear Nose & Throat Specialists, has known the family since 1989, when the surgeon was recruited to St. Petersburg by Dennis Sexton, then president of All Children's, to establish its Pediatric Otolaryngology Department.
"He loved kids. And kids loved him," she said.
"One of the things that I think he did very well was he encouraged the young people around him to explore careers in medicine," close friend and business partner Dr. Thomas Andrews said. "He encouraged them to think big, to push the envelope, to reach for their highest potential."
It was to Andrews that Jill Orobello turned when her husband was late returning from his Saturday morning run. Every Friday night after dinner, she said, her husband would squirrel away bottles of water along the route he'd run the next day. It became a custom when he took up marathon running in 2000, after their oldest child, Peter, died from an X-linked auto immune disorder at 14.
"He would drop water bottles in three or four places. Every Saturday morning, he would run about 20 to 26 miles," she said.
Last weekend was to be no different. After they'd had dinner at the Island Grille on Tierra Verde, he stowed water along a route that regularly took him from their Tierra Verde home out past Pass-a-Grille, through St. Pete Beach and back. That night, Jill Orobello recalled, her husband said he planned to rise at 3 a.m. — about an hour earlier than usual — and begin his run at 4.
"He always walked to my side of the bed and gave me a kiss," she said. "He said, 'I'm going to go. I love you.' And then he left. I kind of thought I would see him around 9:30. About 10:30, I thought I really should see him coming in."
She drove around to see if she would spot him, even stopping a sheriff's deputy. Feeling a bit silly, she asked Andrews, who lives two houses away, to accompany her on a wider search. Andrews called emergency rooms, but there was no news, so they returned to the Orobello home and called the Sheriff's Office. The deputy Jill Orobello had spoken with earlier arrived, followed closely by two others, bearing the bad news.
Cpl. Spencer Gross, a spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, told the Tampa Bay Times that Dr. Orobello had collapsed near the Walgreens on Gulf Boulevard around 7 that morning. Emergency crews tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Running was her husband's hobby, but also what he described as his therapy, Jill Orobello said.
"When I met him, he was running 16 miles a couple times a week," she said. "After our son passed away in 2000, that year, he ran a marathon with his partner Dr. Andrews."
As she spoke by phone, 4-week-old grandchild, Peter Liam — the couple's first — cooed in the background. She said she and their five adult children are coping with the sudden loss.
"God carried us through a lot. Losing our son and their brother, I think it really strengthened all of us. We're all very sad and I am just praying that this too will strengthen us even more than we have been," she said.
"The outpouring from everyone has been heartwarming."
DR. PETER OROBELLO DIED WHILE ON HIS MORNING RUN SATURDAY.
By,Waveney Ann Moore Former Times Reporter
ST. PETERSBURG — The outpouring on Facebook reverberates with gratitude and sadness from parents whose children Dr. Peter Orobello treated as recently as a few weeks ago and as far back as a quarter of a century.
"Watching my baby girl dance to music may sound like no big deal, but we will never forget that she can only hear the music thanks to Dr. Orobello," says one post.
"He was my son's doctor. So kind and compassionate," reads another.
Dr. Orobello, a surgeon who specialized in treating ear, nose and throat problems in children, died Saturday morning while on his morning run. His wife, Jill, said her husband, a marathoner, died of a massive heart attack. They had celebrated their 31st anniversary in March. On Aug. 30, he would have been 60.
"He's a man who has touched the lives of thousands of children and family members all through the region," said Dr. Paul Danielson, chief of medical staff at All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine.
"When he came here, All Children's was essentially a community pediatric hospital. He was one of the few key individuals who transformed this place into a major pediatric, subspecialty hospital. That transformation laid the foundation for what we are today."
Shelly Ash, an audiologist who coordinates the cochlear implant team at All Children's and worked with Dr. Orobello for 15 years, called him a visionary. "He was always trying to think of ways to better serve the patient," she said.
Lesli Williams, marketing manager for Dr. Orobello's Pediatric Ear Nose & Throat Specialists, has known the family since 1989, when the surgeon was recruited to St. Petersburg by Dennis Sexton, then president of All Children's, to establish its Pediatric Otolaryngology Department.
"He loved kids. And kids loved him," she said.
"One of the things that I think he did very well was he encouraged the young people around him to explore careers in medicine," close friend and business partner Dr. Thomas Andrews said. "He encouraged them to think big, to push the envelope, to reach for their highest potential."
It was to Andrews that Jill Orobello turned when her husband was late returning from his Saturday morning run. Every Friday night after dinner, she said, her husband would squirrel away bottles of water along the route he'd run the next day. It became a custom when he took up marathon running in 2000, after their oldest child, Peter, died from an X-linked auto immune disorder at 14.
"He would drop water bottles in three or four places. Every Saturday morning, he would run about 20 to 26 miles," she said.
Last weekend was to be no different. After they'd had dinner at the Island Grille on Tierra Verde, he stowed water along a route that regularly took him from their Tierra Verde home out past Pass-a-Grille, through St. Pete Beach and back. That night, Jill Orobello recalled, her husband said he planned to rise at 3 a.m. — about an hour earlier than usual — and begin his run at 4.
"He always walked to my side of the bed and gave me a kiss," she said. "He said, 'I'm going to go. I love you.' And then he left. I kind of thought I would see him around 9:30. About 10:30, I thought I really should see him coming in."
She drove around to see if she would spot him, even stopping a sheriff's deputy. Feeling a bit silly, she asked Andrews, who lives two houses away, to accompany her on a wider search. Andrews called emergency rooms, but there was no news, so they returned to the Orobello home and called the Sheriff's Office. The deputy Jill Orobello had spoken with earlier arrived, followed closely by two others, bearing the bad news.
Cpl. Spencer Gross, a spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, told the Tampa Bay Times that Dr. Orobello had collapsed near the Walgreens on Gulf Boulevard around 7 that morning. Emergency crews tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Running was her husband's hobby, but also what he described as his therapy, Jill Orobello said.
"When I met him, he was running 16 miles a couple times a week," she said. "After our son passed away in 2000, that year, he ran a marathon with his partner Dr. Andrews."
As she spoke by phone, 4-week-old grandchild, Peter Liam — the couple's first — cooed in the background. She said she and their five adult children are coping with the sudden loss.
"God carried us through a lot. Losing our son and their brother, I think it really strengthened all of us. We're all very sad and I am just praying that this too will strengthen us even more than we have been," she said.
"The outpouring from everyone has been heartwarming."
Pete was a great friend . When I learned of his passing I was shocked. We was always physically fit, in good shape, and just lived life to the fullest. He grew up in South Euclid and had many friends from grade school and high school. His parents were very proud of all of Pete’s accomplishments. He had a great career and was well respected. We lost Pete way to soon
tribute by Terry Dilisio