Dr. Richard Moriarty, founder of Mr. Yuk sticker, dies at 83

When people found out Dr. Richard Moriarty was the man behind the Mr. Yuk sticker, they would say how the sticker saved them from drinking something that could have killed them.

Or that the 1970s commercial, where a narrator with a menacing laugh warns kids that “Mr. Yuk is mean and Mr. Yuk is greeeen,” totally terrified them.

Or that they would take a more mischievous tact and put the sticker on a can of kidney beans.

Moriarty, a pediatrician who built the Pittsburgh Poison Control Center and developed its iconic green mascot, would say to his husband, “You must be tired of hearing this story over and over.”

“I said, ‘No.’ I would never get tired of hearing his story,” said his surviving husband, David Hairhoger. “Because I was so proud of what he did and the accomplishments he made to medicine.”

Moriarty died Thursday at UPMC Shadyside. He had undergone mitral valve replacement surgery about 12 weeks ago. He spent the following time in intensive care. The Lawrenceville native, who retired to Washington’s Landing, was 83.

In 2021, when Mr. Yuk, with his mean, green face warning children to stay away from dangerous household items, turned 50, Moriarty told the Tribune-Review that he hoped the image saved lives.

“I hope I saved a lot of people,” Moriarty said. “I just wanted to help. I had a lot of people around me who supported this idea. I can’t believe it’s still rolling. That fascinates me.”

The University of Pittsburgh medical graduate trained at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, then in Oakland, in clinical pharmacology in the early 1970s.

At the time, the Pittsburgh Poison Center consisted of one telephone. Moriarty was asked to start a poison center by Tim Oliver, then chairman of the pediatric department at the University of Pittsburgh.

Moriarty developed a center staffed by registered nurses that operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

When creating Mr. Yuk, Moriarty said he originally thought about using a skull and crossbones because it was considered a warning symbol. It also was the logo for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He and Dick Garber, formerly of public relations firm and advertising agency Vic Maitland & Associates, designed an ill face and ugly fluorescent green background and showed it to children.

“ ‘That looks yucky,’ one of the children said,” Moriarty recalled in 2021. “So we called him Mr. Yuk.”

Amanda Korenoski, director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center at UPMC, noted Moriarty’s contributions to medicine and safety.

“Dr. Moriarty was instrumental in the development and promotion of Mr. Yuk, a Pittsburgh icon that serves as a poison prevention symbol and promotes poison center awareness,” Korenoski said. “Dr. Moriarty’s passion for Mr. Yuk and poison prevention was unmatched. We will work hard to continue Dr. Moriarty’s mission through ongoing promotion of Mr. Yuk in our communities.”

Moriarty and Hairhoger were together for 30 years. They met in 1993 at The Holiday, a gay bar in Oakland.

They started chatting and Hairhoger saw that Moriarty had a Mr. Yuk money clip, a gift from his workplace. It’s an item he carried with him throughout his life.

They left the bar together to grab a cup of coffee. And they were together after that.

“Richard and I never fell in love,” Hairhoger said. “We were in love the minute we met that night. And we never looked back.”

The couple wed in 2014 when same-sex marriage was recognized in Pennsylvania and their friends started asking them when they were going to make it official.

“We had all this pressure from our heterosexual friends,” he laughed.

They had a ceremony at Longview Country Club, followed by a Sunday brunch.

“I think we were the first same-sex couple to be married there,” Hairhoger said. “They had no reservations about it whatsoever.”

Hairhoger is a retired pharmacist who ran Community Drug in Greenfield for decades. The two traveled extensively and often dined out. One of their frequent haunts was Big Jim’s in Greenfield.

“He always got Italian hoagie, well toasted, no mayo,” Hairhoger remembered.

In addition to his work in pediatrics, he was a philanthropist who supported the arts and science.

He served on the boards of the Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

“He was very diligent, very detailed and passionate,” said Marya Sea Kaminski, artistic director for Pittsburgh Public Theater. “He helped hold our organization to a really high standard.

“I speak for everyone in the Public Theater when I say that we are heartbroken at his passing,” said Kaminski, noting Moriarty played an instrumental role in its Shakespeare program for kids.

“He supported bringing ambitious works to our stage and would be able to see a vision for what could be and threw his support behind it.

Moriarty’s connection to the Natural History Museum began as a child, when it helped inspire his love of science.

“You always hope museums ignite that spark in little kids like that,” said Gretchen Baker, the museum’s director.

Moriarty helped drive support for the museum’s research and was instrumental in programs like Carnegie Discoverers, a membership-based program with scientific lectures.

Though he never missed a meeting and held high standards, he was warm with a friendly spirit.

“Every time I would see Richard, he would give me a big hug and say, ‘Hey, kiddo,’ ” Baker said. “He had this kind of youthful energy about him and a sparkle in his eye. He always made me smile. He became a cherished friend.”

He is survived by his husband, David Hairhoger; nephew Edwin Moriarty (Elizabeth); niece Amy Anderson (Robert); great-nieces, Sarah Quitaro (Joshua), Emily Brown (Wesley); great-nephew Scotty Moriarty (Sabra); great-great-nieces Charlotte and Quinn Brown; great-great-nephews Brandon and Colin Quitaro and Joey and Brody Moriarty.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday at John A. Freyvogel Sons Inc., 4900 Centre Ave. at Devonshire Street. A funeral on Tuesday will be private.