Pittsburgh titan and former PNC Bank CEO

When Bill Demchak, chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, moved to Pittsburgh in 2002 with his wife and two young children, among the first people he met was Sylvan M. “Sy” Holzer. Mr. Holzer turned out to be a really good friend to have.

For one thing, the young family came to Pittsburgh without a car. A car showed up in their garage.

And when Mr. Demchak’s wife wanted piano lessons for their two sons, Mr. Holzer helped him find a piano. Mr. Holzer, who knew everybody, took his friend to a piano show and arranged for a Pittsburgh Symphony pianist to visit the show to help pick one out. That piano still resides in the Demchaks’ home and is known as “Sy’s piano.”

“That is Sy Holzer. He was that person for every person he met,” Mr. Demchak said Monday.

Mr. Holzer, a former PNC Bank president and CEO beloved for his civic and philanthropic work for the Hillman Cancer Center and other organizations, died in his sleep Sunday. Mr. Holzer, 75, of Upper St. Clair, was surrounded by his family leading up to his death, according to his son, Brian Holzer of Louisville, Ky.

The son of Holocaust survivors, Mr. Holzer rose in the banking industry from a management trainee in 1972 to regional president and CEO of PNC Bank, retiring in late 2016.

His parents’ experiences during World War II and their drive to make a new life helped form Mr. Holzer’s character, his son said. He could call anybody and they would come and help, said Mr. Demchak, who said Mr. Holzer had a unique ability to connect people and things to cause outcomes.

“The guy spent his life in the pursuit to make other people happy,” he said. “There’s grumpy Sy and happy Sy. Everybody knew his warts and all and loved him for it.”

There was a funny Sy, too.

Mr. Holzer had four cellphones and at one point three company cars, according to Mr. Demchak.

“We couldn’t figure out which ones were his,” he said.

And there was that rumor Mr. Holzer even expensed the tuxedo he was married in, according to Mr. Demchak.

“Sy Holzer stories are endless. He was just a machine and a good man and his passing makes me sad,” he said.

Mr. Holzer’s humble beginnings stayed with him. His mother, Charlotte, first worked at the H.J. Heinz Co. while his dad, Max, was a door-to-door salesman. They lived in Squirrel Hill.

“My father went from nothing to this brand, Sy, and it never went to his head and he used it to give back to others,” his son said.

Mr. Holzer treated sports icons and city leaders the same as he would treat the parking attendant at PNC Bank.

“He had no polish. He would sit there and beat the crap out of people with sarcasm and wit,” his son recalled.

Mr. Holzer’s decadeslong dedication to civic and community work, serving on boards unpaid, was remarkable. He chaired a special council at the Hillman Cancer Center with the Hillmans, working closely with his childhood friend, Dr. Stanley Marks, chairman of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

Dr. Marks and Mr. Holzer maintained a 70-year friendship.

Mr. Holzer had a personal passion for cancer care and research, and to the goal of growing a dedicated center in the region, Dr. Marks said. The special council for the Hillman center raised more than $200 million and Mr. Holzer was instrumental in recruiting talent to the center, as well.

“Besides being the incredible person he was, Sy was a tireless supporter of the cancer center. I’m not sure we’d be where we are today without him,” Dr. Marks said.

Mr. Holzer’s humor and his Pittsburgh pedigree shone through in many of his interactions, Dr. Marks and others said.

During construction of the cancer center, Mr. Holzer and Dr. Marks would meet with Elsie Hillman, well-known Pittsburgh philanthropist, for lunch not at the Duquesne Club but at Ritter’s Diner in Bloomfield, Dr. Marks said.

About six years ago, Mr. Holzer’s friends established the Sy Holzer Endowed Immunotherapy Research Fund to support young Hillman investigators working on novel ideas in immunotherapy, Dr. Marks said.

The fund has collected about $2 million from Mr. Holzer’s friends.

And the ranks of those friends are legion.

One friend, Pittsburgh motorsports legend, Chip Ganassi, described Mr. Holzer as the “hardest working banker in Pittsburgh in his days at PNC,” via text message. “Sy never lost his Pittsburgh roots and values. A friend to many!”

David Morehouse, former president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Penguins, mourned the loss. “Sy was more than a friend. Hard working, loyal, and generous. He was always there for me and countless others. Pittsburgh lost a true giant.”

Mr. Holzer’s civic leadership resulted in an appointment to the University of Pittsburgh board of trustees, the board of visitors for the Katz Graduate School of Business and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Judiciary Advisory Council.

Pitt Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg described Mr. Holzer’s advocacy work, including with the Hillman Cancer Center, as a “telling example” of how he worked hard for the Pittsburgh region.

“Sy Holzer was a tireless champion of this region,” Mr. Nordenberg said. “Because he literally seemed to know everyone and was engaged with so many critically important organizations, he was a master at creating meaningful relationships between people, as well as bridges between people and worthy causes.”

Mr. Holzer served on many boards including Bethany Board of Trustees, the Pittsburgh Opera, Fred Rogers Foundation and the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and the executive committee of the board of the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

His numerous honors include induction into the Taylor Allderdice Hall of Fame in 2013.

Although Mr. Holzer left a pharmacy school in Philadelphia after becoming homesick, according to his son, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University and the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business.

“Sy Holzer was a true Pittsburgh original and an upbeat ambassador who enthusiastically promoted the city he loved,” Duquesne University President Ken Gormley said.

“He was proud of growing up on the scrappy streets of Greenfield, of modest means,” Mr. Gormley recalled. “He especially loved to tell the story of how a Spiritan priest at Duquesne intervened when his father got ill and his family had no income. The priest paid Sy’s tuition so that he could finish his degree.

“Every friend of Sy Holzer felt energized and special. And every friend of Sy Holzer now feels a terrible sense of loss with his passing,” Mr. Gormley said.

Brian Holzer remembers his father as a true civic and charitable titan who often went out of his way to interact with and help average people. Before he reached his PNC office on a typical workday, Mr. Holzer would often chat with 10 or more frontline workers, according to his son.

Even late in life, his penchant for helping others grew stronger, which was evident in his business consulting service, according to his son.

“He felt uncomfortable charging people for his services. He found joy in staying busy and helping people,” he said.

Given Mr. Holzer’s background, his charitable bent was authentic, his son said.

“They don’t make people like him anymore,” he said.

Mr. Holzer is survived by his wife, Cathy of 54 years, his brother Dennis, his two children, Brian and Jodie, and five grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements for Holzer includes visitation at 10 a.m. and a funeral service at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 5509 Centre Ave. in Shadyside.

Memorial contributions can be made to Sy Holzer Endowed Immunotherapy Research Fund, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Development Office, UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 1B, 5150 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232.