Celebrating a Family Patriarch 

Mike Pasquale

According to his family, the titles that meant the most to Michael F. Pasquale were Dad to his four children, PopPop to his nine grandchildren, and Squal to his many friends. Michael was the family patriarch, a retired corporate leader and renowned business executive, an accomplished golf enthusiast, and a Northeast transplant to Hilton Head Island who loved his retirement life in the South. But most of all, Michael was a caring, down-to-earth, selfless person, admired and beloved by everyone who was blessed to know him.  

In May 2019, Michael, then 71, was experiencing chronic back pain but assumed it was something related to his long-standing back issues. It wasn’t until he read about Alex Trebek’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis that he started thinking his symptoms could be this disease. Tests revealed the source of his pain was, in fact, pancreatic cancer. The diagnosis blindsided and devastated his entire family, as Michael was otherwise healthy and had no family history of pancreatic cancer. Michael’s wife and children committed to researching and finding the best care for him, ready to do whatever they could to give Michael the longest and best quality of life possible.   

Based on his medical team’s recommendation, Michael underwent a complicated Whipple surgery, followed by a very difficult recovery and chemotherapy. Despite these treatments, by the holiday season in 2019—less than six months after his diagnosis—his family came to the painful realization that Michael would likely not survive much longer. He passed away on March 19, 2020, leaving behind many loved ones, including his wife of nearly 51 years, Pamela; his four children, Caren, Mike, Steven, and Maris, and their spouses; nine grandchildren; a large extended family; and countless friends and former colleagues. 

Following Michael’s passing, a business connection introduced Mike to the Lustgarten Foundation’s leadership team and to the innovative research Lustgarten is funding to advance early detection and new treatment options. Lustgarten Board member Sheila Mahony was also helpful in referring Pamela, her friend from Hilton Head Island, to the Lustgarten Foundation. Motivated by the Foundation’s dedication to supporting the most ground-breaking science, the Pasquale family has raised nearly $50,000 to date for the Lustgarten Foundation’s research program—a fundraising milestone they are eager to meet and then significantly surpass in 2025.  

“My father died just as the world shut down from the COVID-19 pandemic, making it impossible to have the type of funeral or celebration of life he deserved and that would give our family the closure we needed to mourn his death,” Mike noted. The Pasquale family—brought even closer together since Michael’s death—held an outdoor celebration of life ceremony a year after Michael’s passing, but they had hoped to do more to pay tribute to a man who was so widely admired and loved.  

To recognize the five-year anniversary of Michael’s passing this year, the Pasquale family is having dinner on March 19 at an Italian restaurant Michael loved, and Mike is organizing a brunch fundraiser in Long Island following the Foundation’s Long Island Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research on October 5. The event will feature an auction and remarks from Lustgarten Foundation leadership and will benefit the Foundation’s early detection research efforts. “It’s a travesty that we’ve lost so many people to pancreatic cancer. My mom, brother, sisters, and I know our dad would want to see more people getting diagnosed earlier, giving them a fighting chance to not only survive, but thrive. Making that goal a possibility is a meaningful part of his legacy,” Mike added. 

For Michael’s wife, Pamela, this anniversary is a reminder of the day her life shattered. “I ‘see’ your face every day and we ‘talk’ about the kids and grandkids, but I wish I could hold your hand again,” she shared. For Michael’s four children, this anniversary is a time to reflect on the unique bond each shared with their father. For Mike, that bond grew from their mutual love for golf and his father’s exceptional golf expertise. Mike enjoyed taking him to the most exclusive golf courses nationwide, where his dad couldn’t wait to collect $10 every time he won a round of golf against Mike. During their last golf trip, though, Mike won—one of the few times—which made his father incredibly happy. To celebrate Michael’s love for the game, Mike and a small group of relatives will gather this spring to play a round of golf together—something Mike knows his father would have enjoyed and that he was responsible for organizing in years past. 

The Pasquale family is looking forward to continuing to honor Michael’s memory through their support of the Lustgarten Foundation. “I have been blessed with an unbelievable network, both professionally and personally, and I am excited and ready to ask others to join me in supporting pancreatic cancer research,” Mike shared. “The art of asking for donations from people in your network is challenging, but it’s much easier and more purposeful when there’s a foundation like Lustgarten that has done so much to first raise awareness and then has demonstrated its value through the scope of research it funds.”