Family inspired love of the Pitt Panthers for this ultimate fan
Pitt is definitely it for Luciana “Miss Lu” Bair.
She claims to be the biggest Panthers fan, and she’s got a pretty solid case.
Let’s start with the vehicle she drives. It’s a 2023 Dodge Durango with custom seating in the school’s colors of blue and gold. Her tires have “Panthers” written in script-inspired lettering.
She designed the Panther paw graphics on the hood. The stripe on the side is modeled after the Cathedral of Learning arches and the interior is calf skin leather with a Pitt emblem on the seat — with permission from the university.
You can find it easily in the parking lot near Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh’s North Side when there are Panther home games — just look for a large inflatable blue and gold helmet that adorns the roof.
“I am obsessed,” she said. “Pitt is it and that’s it.”
It was a family connection that inspired her love of the Panthers. Her uncle was Carl DePasqua, football player and graduate assistant at Pitt who went to a job as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers before returning to Pitt as a head coach. His sister, Bair’s mother Julie DePasqua Webb, was a huge fan. She took her daughter to a Pitt football game when she was just 2 months old.
Bair didn’t get to attend school at Pitt — she was supposed to study art there, but her mom passed away from breast cancer and Luciana was the oldest of six children.
“I stayed home and went from teenager to mom,” she said. “Can you imagine how much more outrageous I would be if I had been able to attend Pitt?”
Despite a forecast of a lot of rain, Bair will be at the homecoming game Saturday with her husband Larry. They will make the trip from their home in Mill Hall, Clinton County.
The Panthers host the Louisville Cardinals at 6:30 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium. The couple has field passes for prior to kickoff.
“The rain won’t stop us,” she said. “We will be there. This is my team and I need to and want to support my team. I am Panther proud forever.”
They don’t miss a home game unless it’s on a Thursday night. They also attend most away games and home basketball games. The couple, both 67 years old, also attend the men’s basketball games and recently began going to volleyball games.
When players get injured, Bair will send them get-well cards. After they graduate, she stays in touch via texts, calls and emails. She and her husband never leave a game early because she wants to be there in case the players need her. They often look for her in the stands, she said.
“It’s not about wins and losses,” she said. “It’s about supporting the players and the coaches. These guys become my family. Some of them call me an adopted mom. I get close to some of their families. That’s what sports are all about.”
Bair has a display in her home to honor her uncle and Pitt decor throughout the house. The diving board and slide at her backyard pool are Pitt colors. She has a banner and flags hanging nearby, and Pitt outdoor furniture covers.
She has Tiki torches that are royal blue and yellow and she has a wall full of Pitt jerseys in her basement.
“A friend said my house is like a museum,” she said.
She has more than 200 signatures on her Pitt Zoo T-shirt from basketball players Sam Clancy, Charles Smith and Brandin Knight. She even has an autograph from former men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon.
Bair corresponds with football players such as Tony Dorsett, Damar Hamlin, Jason Pinnock, M.J. Devonshire, Hugh Green, Andy Lee, Jordan Addison and Tyler Boyd.
There is another way to know she’s a true Pitt fan.
“I immensely dislike Penn State,” she said.
“She is really, really avid about what she believes in,” Larry Bair said. “She is committed to the players and coaches and she has so many followers. They keep in touch. Some of them text with her weekly.”
She is hoping Larry Fitzgerald, who played wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League, returns for homecoming. It will be great to see everyone, she said.
“These are my people,” she said. “This is my team. I told my husband when I die I want to be buried in my Pitt gear. It’s a part of me.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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