Commemorative bench, loving tributes honor UB staff member

Sarah Piraino’s kindness and spirit for giving back were widely known across the UB campus. So when the late UB staff member’s friends, family and colleagues came together Tuesday to commemorate her life with the dedication of a memorial bench, they left 12 roses, each with a written message asking students to pass the rose along to someone they love.

In that moment, 12 new stories were written, and Piraino’s kindness became part of the UB landscape.

Piraino, a counselor in the Educational Opportunity Program, died Sept. 16, 2018, after a long struggle with Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy. The mother of twins, Anthony and Adriana, Piraino, 41, had also served as secretary to the Professional Staff Senate and was a dedicated member of the PSS Inclusion and Diversity Committee and the Undergraduate Advisement Council, as well as a two-time chair of the WNY Advising Conference.

Her family, peers and friends gathered at the bench outside Capen and Talbert halls and told stories of her well-known devotion to students and the UB community while placing those “pay it forward” roses on the bench. The flowers represented her passion for giving and generosity toward everyone she knew.

“She was a light,” Piraino’s mother, Beth Wainwright, said. “I never once heard her raise her voice. She was just so calm and positive all the time — to us, to her students, to everyone.”

Piraino’s optimism and presence now radiate throughout the academic spine. The Professional Staff Senate organized Tuesday’s bench dedication. Tim Tryjankowski, PSS chair, said he believes Piraino would have loved the location.     

“I think Sarah is smiling, knowing that her marker is our bustling spot on campus where student connections, student friendships and academic pursuits are being discussed daily,” said Tryjankowski, director of research and co-curricular activities for the Honors College.

Several of Piraino’s colleagues spoke about the impact she left on them and on the UB community during her tenure with the PSS.

“As a member of PSS’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee, she was an advocate and ally to those in our community that are underrepresented and treated unjustly in our community,” said Domenic Licata, former PSS chair and instructional support technician in the Department of Art.

“Sarah represented the best of us and brought out the best in us. She was always a constant professional while always smiling. Sarah could always be counted on to find the good in every situation.”

Those organizing the memorial hope students will use the roses to continue Piraino’s legacy of generosity.

Today, “12 new stories are going to happen,” said Tryjankowski. “A student will pick up this rose and give it to their teacher, friends, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend — just someone they care about — and they are going to pay it forward, and Sarah’s going to be a part of that interaction.

“Sarah acted on pay it forward before pay it forward was even a thing,” he noted. “She always wanted to leave someone a little bit happier and a little bit better.”