Richard Caliguiri - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Richard S. Caliguiri (October 20, 1931 — May 6, 1988) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1978 until his death in 1988.

Caliguiri first ran for mayor in 1973 but lost the Democratic primary to incumbent mayor Peter F. Flaherty. Caliguiri again ran in 1977, this time losing the primary to Tom Foerster. Caliguiri decided to break with the Democratic Party establishment and ran in the general election as an independent candidate. Despite long odds, Caliguiri won the race and became Pittsburgh's mayor. After the campaign, Caliguiri realigned himself with the Democratic Party. He would be reelected twice.

Under Caliguiri's leadership, Pittsburgh began its "Renaissance II" plan, an urban renewal and revitalization plan based on the “Renaissance” plan of former mayor David L. Lawrence. The plan was generally considered a success but was hampered by a sharp and permanent downturn in the city's economy. Pittsburgh's economy began a marked downturn in the late 1970s with the decline of the large steel producers such as US Steel and Jones & Laughlin. By the end of Caliguiri's time in office, not a single major steel mill operated in a city once known as the "Steel City".

In the mid 1980s, Caliguiri was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare and serious protein disorder. Curiously, within a few years in the mid to late 1980s, three of Pennsylvania's most prominent political leaders were afflicted with the disorder. Caliguiri as well as longtime Erie Mayor Louis Tullio and Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey were all diagnosed with the incurable and usually fatal disease.

Caliguiri refused to allow his declining heath to affect his leadership and declined to step down as mayor. He finally succumbed to the illness in 1988 at the age of 56, and was interred in Pittsburgh's Calvary Cemetery.

In October 1990, a commemorative statue of Caliguiri sculpted by Robert Berks was dedicated on the steps of the Downtown Pittsburgh City-County Building on Grant Street. According to Caliguiri's son David, previous ideas had included a renaming of Grant Street and the Pittsburgh Civic (later Mellon) Arena.

Description: October 20, 1931 — May 6, 1988) Date of birth: 10/20/1931 Date of death: 05/06/1988 Area of notoriety: Politics Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 7 AM - 9 PM Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.

We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. However, only respectful photographs are allowed. Logs which include photographs representing any form of disrespectful behavior (including those showing personal items placed on or near the grave location) will be subject to deletion.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.