March 29, 2010
By the time Charlie Petrizzo ’85SVC began his studies as an
Athletic Administration major on the Staten Island campus of St.
John’s University, he had already suffered two serious accidents
that would, more than two decades later, profoundly change his
life. 
“I was a pretty good athlete before I got hurt,” he recalled,
“but after my second accident I realized than any chance of me
playing competitive ball were over. When I got to St. John’s I
still wanted to do something related to sports, and so I got into
the Athletic Administration program.”
After graduation Petrizzo began a career on Wall Street, where
he rose through the ranks of the retail financial sector from an
Account Representative to Managing Director at Wachovia Bank.
The well-earned success and the perks that went along with it
were satisfactory but not sufficient, and in 2004 he left the
corporate world to begin a new life in which service to others
played a major role. “When I got hurt as a teenager, a lot of
people helped me,” he said. “I had been seriously burned, and being
a typically vain 16-year old I was somewhat shy about going out in
social settings. At that time I had a young dog who was my friend,
and I always remembered how important the relationship with that
dog was for me during those difficult days. I decided that I wanted
to help others in the same way.”
Petrizzo put his ideas into practice by founding Circle of Life
Labrador Retrievers in his home state of North Carolina, and
currently serves as the organization’s President. He and his wife
Sandy (’88NDC) spend their days breeding and providing Labrador
Retriever pups to assistance dog organizations, making placement of
pups to families with a child with developmental or
emotional challenges and offering canine therapy sessions with one
of their own dogs for children with special needs. Working closely
with a number of assistance dog organizations, including the North
Star Foundation, Petrizzo currently has dogs placed in 10 states
from coast-to-coast.
“I personally delivered a dog to the family of a six-year old
with Down Syndrome in the state of Washington,” he said. “The
child needed a friend and I trained the dog myself. When it
was ready, I brought it out there and arranged for a trainer in
Spokane to finish up the training while the dog was still a
puppy.”
Petrizzo has never charged for any of his service dogs nor taken
any donations to support his work. He funds his activities
through the breeding and boarding of other dogs, the commercial
side of his current career. “Sandy and I have never wanted to
accept any money for what we do,” he said. “This is a ministry for
us to serve God by serving the afflicted. One of our future goals
is to take at-risk children - children who are wayward, who are
possibly heading for incarceration – and teach them empathy,
stability, discipline and goal-setting by allowing them to train
the dogs here with us. We want to show them what they can do when
they put their mind to it.”
The Petrizzos credit their Catholic faith and Vincenti
an
values as the foundation of their commitment to reaching out to
others. “Our work really reinforces our St. John’s values and has
helped us to live the Catholic life through service to others,” he
noted. “God has given me a gift. I never understood why I loved
dogs so much, but I came to realize that I have a talent that I can
use in the service of others. Christ told us that He came to serve,
and we need to be Christ-like in the service of others. That’s one
of the most important messages that St. John’s is sending
today.”
His advice to today’s students and fellow alumni is both simple
and profound, echoing the beliefs that are such an important part
of his life. “Think about the impact of what you’re doing with your
life, the impact that you’re having on other people, and be sure
that, in some way, you’re serving others. I’ve been in both places.
I’ve had the half-million dollar a year job, and all of the
amenities that went with it, and I gave it up to breed puppies to
help others. And you know what? I’m happier today than I’ve
ever been!”