‘Heart and soul’ of Henne Jewelers passes away at 65

Lindsay Shachnow / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nina Pugliese has been seen by co-workers as the “heart and soul” of Henne Jewelers for nearly half a century, but those who knew her best say she was really in the people business all along.

“She just happened to use jewelry,” said her niece, Naomi Pugliese, of Cheswick. “You couldn’t buy something off of her without her hearing your life story.”

Ms. Pugliese started working as a saleswoman at Henne Jewelers after graduating from high school when she was 18 — the first employee hired when the jewelry store relocated from East Liberty to Shadyside in 1978.

Her co-workers, who described her as a gifted listener, say her genuine, kind-hearted nature is what made customers willing to open up. 

“I know for certain that there are customers that shared things with Nina that they didn’t share with anyone else,” fourth-generation owner John Henne said.

On Sept. 25, Ms. Pugliese, 65, died from brain cancer. She is survived by five siblings: David Pugliese, of Richland; Paul Pugliese, of Shaler; Michael Pugliese, of Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Sam Pugliese, of Etna; and Joseph Pugliese, of O’Hara Township. She was born on Feb. 17, 1960.

Paul Pugliese, who remembers his sister as “dressed to the hilt” without fail, said she always had a creative eye. And her co-workers eventually picked up on it, too.

Around 2000, Ms. Pugliese, who had become one of the store’s top salespeople, was entrusted to design her own jewelry line. It was called “Exclusively Nina,” and featured pieces that Mr. Henne described as offering “whimsy,” yet being timeless.

“She could design something that is creative and new and fun, yet stand the test of time,” he said.

Mr. Henne said the store intends to continue Ms. Pugliese’s jewelry line, re-creating designs that have already been sold but also adding in hundreds of new pieces from the several dozen renderings that she was in the process of making. 

“We’re bringing her sketches to life,” he said. 

After Ms. Pugliese’s passing, the pieces she had conceived over the years took on a whole new meaning — especially for those who loved her most. 

Ms. Pugliese gave each of her five nieces two pearls for their birthday every year, so that by the time they turned 18, they each had a full pearl necklace.

For Nina Thullen, of Shaler, who was named after her aunt, the pearl necklace has come to be one of her favorite pieces of jewelry.  

That’s second to her engagement ring, which Ms. Pugliese also designed in the run-up to Ms. Thullen’s wedding last November.

“It's just so nice that I have a little piece of her with me always,” she said.

While Ms. Pugliese “poured her heart” into the Henne business, her faith and family always came first. Her family members say she was always the one who brought her family together, hosting parties and gatherings. 

Whether it was an engagement, a birth or birthday, her co-workers and loved ones say Ms. Pugliese found joy in being able to share in people’s greatest milestones — and working with customers to design custom pieces to celebrate those moments gave her the opportunity to do just that.

“These pieces can live on decades and decades, generations after the gift was given,” Mr. Henne said. 

But it was the love and care that Ms. Pugliese put into every customer exchange that made people think of her every time they open up their jewelry box, said Juliet Slaby, director of private sales.

“She not only provided important special pieces for important times in people’s lives, but she also created a memory with it,” said Ms. Slaby, who worked with Ms. Pugliese for a decade. 

Ms. Thullen finds comfort in knowing that Ms. Pugliese was able to use her jewelry as a way to forge such deep connections with so many people.

“People loved her jewelry,” she said. “But she is really what sold it.”

“She was the ultimate piece.”