Mario and Nathalie Lemieux stroll into the lobby of The Children’s Home and Lemieux Family Center sans entourage. With their family in tow, they look like any Pittsburgh family – which is just how they want it.
But this is no ordinary family and no ordinary day at The Children’s Home. There are photos to be taken, interviews to be done and a tour of the facility they helped create. The spotlight is shining on these reluctant celebrities.

In the midst of it all, this unassuming member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins is trying to be just a dad. And by his side is Nathalie – wife, mother and philanthropist extraordinaire. Both are fiercely private and media shy. Oh, but there’s the rub.
The Mario Lemieux Foundation made the $2 million lead gift to create a state-of-the-art facility for infants and children on Penn Avenue in the city’s Friendship neighborhood. Doors opened this past April. Adding “Lemieux Family Center” to the name brings the focus squarely where the Lemieuxs want it – on family. Couple that with another Lemieux coup: keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh, and is it any wonder people are star-struck when this family is on the scene?

Before Mario, 41, and Nathalie, 40, became Pittsburgh icons, they were just two young people in love. They came to the city in their 20s – Mario in 1984 as the first overall draft pick for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nathalie, two years later. Although they left family, and friends behind in Montreal, it wasn’t a difficult decision for Nathalie. “When you love someone, you want to be together,” she says. “And I am still in love.”
They now live in Sewickley with their four children – Lauren, 14, Stephanie, 12, Austin, 11, and Alexa, 10. “From day one, Mario and I loved Pittsburgh,” Nathalie says. “It’s a great place to raise our children. We’re not leaving.”

Today, as the Lemieux family visits the new facility that bears their name, Austin sees his own namesake: Austin’s Playroom – a bright and airy wonderland filled with toys, a computer, fish tank and play table. Austin’s premature birth in 1996 inspired Nathalie to create The Playroom Project to benefit families and improve the quality of a child’s hospital experience, whether as a visitor or patient. Emotion breaks through Nathalie’s guarded countenance as she tells the story of Austin’s birth at just 26 weeks and the challenges the family faced during his 71 days at Magee-Womens Hospital.

“While Mario and I were tending to Austin, there was no place or no one to provide a comfortable, calming environment for his sisters, then 2 (years) and 11 months,” she says. “I decided to raise funds for playrooms at area hospitals.”

Since then, The Playroom Project has completed 11 playrooms for local hospitals – including Magee-Womens Hospital – and The Children’s Home, with more in the works.

Today Austin is a healthy 11-year-old and enjoys participating in the openings of the playrooms. “He likes to check out the cool things in each room,” his mother says.

The Children’s Home capital campaign was a natural fit for The Lemieux Foundation.

“Our experience with Austin helped us realize how important it is for all families to have a stress-free place during the challenging days, weeks or months their baby is hospitalized,” Mario says. “We got involved with the expansion to make sure there were more beds for babies as well as welcoming places for families.”

The new facility consolidates and expands services for adoption, daycare for medically fragile children and care for infants and children transitioning from hospital to home.

Mario and Nathalie added vision to their dollars, creating a spa-like atmosphere where muted colors and natural lighting infuse family living spaces, complete with kitchen and dining and living rooms where families can visit and bond.

And why stop there? “There should be a play space outside, too,” Nathalie says matter-of-factly. And so, Austin’s Playground, replete with Lilliput castle, sits next to a 200-year-old sycamore tree preserved in The Children’s Home courtyard, offering patients and siblings a gentle retreat.
Children’s Home CEO Pamela Schanwald sees a deeper significance to the Lemieux’s gift. “It validates the work we do,” she says. “This gift is a legacy and a tribute to the love of family.”

Creating a legacy is a two-way street. “This opportunity has made us even more sensitive to those in need,” Nathalie says. “Our goal is to touch as many people as possible.”

With the tour over and the cameras gone, Mario, Nathalie and kids pile in the car, buckle seatbelts and head for home—looking, once again, like an ordinary Pittsburgh family.