Rose Pascale (1916-2009)

ROSE PASCALE, 92 years old, East Harlem Community Leader, liaison for three Manhattan Borough Presidents, Republican District Leader, and wife of the late East Harlem Community Leader Pete Pascale, died on Friday, August 14, 2009.

Rose Pascale, the daughter of Italian immigrants, was a lifelong resident of East Harlem who devoted her life in service to her community. In 1949 when she was a young mother, Rose began work as a volunteer in the second oldest Settlement House in New York City, then known as Haarlem House, now SCAN/La Guardia Memorial House on East 116th Street. Her first position was in the After School Program working as an Arts and Crafts Specialist. Later she inaugurated the program’s first Summer Day Camp and created the Settlement’s first Young Mother’s Club. At the same time she also assisted her husband Pete Pascale for many years in the La Guardia Fresh Air Fund Program sending over 50,000 boys and girls to vacations in the country.

Rose was the chairman of “Pete Pascale Kids Day”, an annual summer street event, now in its eleventh year, providing fun, food and entertainment for over 500 East Harlem boys and girls in honor of her late husband Pete Pascale who also devoted his life to the people of East Harlem, so much so that the block on 116th Street between First and Second Avenues has been officially designated as “Pete Pascale Place”.

Rose Pascale was a Board Member of SCAN/La Guardia House, the La Guardia House Nursery, the Friends of Boy Scout Troop 608 (the second oldest boy scout troop in the city), Board Member of the Lott Community Development Corporation (a leading force to create better housing for senior citizens and lower income families in East Harlem), Historian for East Harlem/El Barrio, and a member of the East Harlem Historical Organization.

Rose Pascale was appointed a Community Liaison for Manhattan by Borough President Percy Sutton in 1969. Her exemplary work in this capacity earned her reappointments by succeeding Borough Presidents Andrew Stein and David Dinkins whom she served until her retirement in 1986.

Rose Pascale was the District Leader of the Uptown Republican Club in East Harlem since 1974, and a Delegate to the National Republican Convention since 1974. She was President of the New York County Republican Federation of Women, State Committee Woman of the 68th Assembly District, Judicial Director of the First District, a Member of the National Federation of Republican Women, and a Council Member of the New York State Federation of Republican Women.

Rose Pascale has received many awards honoring her commitment to the people of East Harlem. Among these are the following:

• 2006-NEW YORKER OF THE WEEK by NY1 for her community work in East Harlem/El Barrio
• 2005-Received East Harlem Community Service Award from Hope Community
• 1999-Honored by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for the contributions she has made to the people of East Harlem
• 1999 – Appointed the Local Historian of Community Board 11 by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields and the Association of Public Historians of New York State
• 1998 – Received a Proclamation from Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields for six decades of community activism in East Harlem and the entire city
• 1997 – Received the Governor’s Award for Community Leadership sponsored by the State Division for Women

Rose always maintained a close affiliation with her Church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, where she served as President of the Rosary Altar Society. She was also a Member of the East Harlem Parish Council of Nine Churches, as well as a Member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council.

Rose was the mother of two children, grandmother of five, and great grandmother of four.

SERVICES

Wednesday, August 19th from 3-8:30pm reposing at George H. Weldon Funeral Home, 343 East 116th Street, 212-427-3300.

Thursday, August 20th, 10:00 am, Mass of Christian burial, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, East 115 Street
Entombment, Saint Raymond's Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in memory of Rose Pascale, Scan/LaGuardia House, 345 East 102nd Street, NY, NY 10029