Obituary of Frederick L. Pascopella

Bridge builder, family man, and wine connoisseur, Frederick Lawrence Pascopella passed away

at the age of 86.

Fred grew up on Seymour Avenue in the Bronx, son of Frederick Robert Pascopella, former

orchestral violinist in Providence, R.I. and U.S. Postmaster, and Giovanna Offinito, former

seamstress and wonderful cook. He was the youngest of three children, and admired his older

sisters, the late Ann Wallace and Rose Mosto.

Fred attended Evander Childs High School and the Eastchester Presbyterian Church, where he

met his lifelong sweetheart, Gale Faith Hilliard. Fred went on to New York University and

graduated with a civil engineering degree. Upon graduation, he started work at the New York

State Department of Transportation.

He married Gale in 1960 and had four children. Lisa, Fred, James (who passed at just four

months old) and Angela. He spent the rest of his life living in New Rochelle, in the same house

on a corner lot that was initially the only house that was built in the area. And attended the

Larchmont Avenue Presbyterian Church, where he volunteered as a deacon.

Fred spent 25-plus years with the state constructing bridges and highways, and was named

1988 Bridge Person of the Year by the Association for Bridge Construction and Design. When

he retired from the state, he told his colleagues and friends, “The most important element in

life is human connection and relationships.”

His constructing skills did not stop at bridges. With the help of his brother-in-law, Fred dug

and built an above-ground pool for his children in their backyard.

In 1991, Fred moved on to become NYC’s head of Bureau of Bridges. He was in charge of 842

bridges, many of which were about to turn 100 years old.

He told the New York Times, “My first priority is to keep the bridges safe and open, despite the

financial problem the city is having. It’s critical.”

At the same time, he had no desire to be in the media spotlight and shied away from any

attention. “I hope to stay out of the policial end of bridges,” he told the Times.

Fred retired in 1995 and went on to consult for LiRo Construction in Queens for several years.

Fred truly relished in the simple things in life with his family. Prosciutto, cheese, wine, olives,

Italian Sunday dinners, Arthur Avenue lunches, Giacomo Puccini operas, reading, cigars, the

Pink Panther films, mysteries and western films. Some of Fred’s highlights of his later life were

traveling to Montana, Arizona and California to visit family, and to Italy. His two trips to Italy

included dining across from the Colosseum in Rome, drinking wine on the Amalfi Coast at the

Tenuta San Francesco vineyard, and smoking a cigar on the coast of Capri, overlooking the

Tyrrhenian Sea.

Fred was a generous man, who enjoyed spending on countless dinners with extended family

and friends, and a plethora of birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts.

Fred is survived by his children, Lisa, Fred and Angela, his daughter-in-law Cathy, son-in-law

Robert, grandchild; cousins: nieces; nephews; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law

Frederick’s family will receive friends at John J. Fox Funeral Home 2080 Boston Post Road

Larchmont, NY 10538 on Friday June 2^nd at 10:30 AM.  A service will begin at 11:00AM. 

Interment will follow the service at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx at 1:00PM.