Dr. Joseph G. Olivieri

It is with great sadness we share the passing of Dr. Joseph Olivieri, born on August 12, 1946 in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Joe passed away peacefully in the compassionate hands of the earthly angels at Hospice of the Sacred Heart on Friday, January 9, 2026 after an illness.

For years, Dr. Joe was a fixture with his partner, Fr. Mark Rossetti, at the Rossetti House on Vine Street in Scranton. Together they featured opera singers from New York, local musicians and playwrights, along with many other local and international artists. These beautiful programs were always accompanied by a lavish gourmet dinner prepared by Fr. Mark. 

After the death of Fr. Mark, Dr. Joe continued to support the arts through the Rossetti Foundation when the house was purchased by Ken Hussey, who formed the Rossetti Foundation, a non-profit arts foundation to continue Dr. Joe and Fr. Mark's dream of bringing the arts to Scranton. 

Before coming to Scranton, Joe was a doctor specializing in HIV/AIDS. His patients knew him as a compassionate doctor who never gave up on them. In addition to heading the Kaposi's Sarcoma Clinic at Bellview Hospital in NYC, Joe was one of the doctors who pioneered the development of the "triple cocktail ". Out of over 200 patients, Joe lost only 7 to the disease. He was unrelenting, contacting drug companies and phoning the NIH and CDC weekly. He was invited to present his findings nationally and internationally at conferences and symposiums. His perseverance was what made him such an effective and successful doctor.

Dr. Joe was preceded in death by his beloved partner, Mark Rossetti, his parents Louis and Rose Cerasuola Olivieri and his sister in law Dr. Florida Olivieri.

He is survived by his identical twin brother, Dr. Carmine Olivieri, his nieces, Rosa Blazejewski, Elena Munz, and Dr. Anna DellaVecchia, as well as several great nieces and nephews including Luke, Alyssa, and Brooke Blazejewski, Nicole, Siena and Riley Munz and John Anthony DellaVecchia. 

He will be greatly missed by all of those who loved him. A mass and memorial service will be announced at a later date.