The Preciousness of Patty Pasculli

We knew each other as passing youngsters in our formative years, mostly through organized sports. Dennis uptown and Patty downtown, our paths crossing from time to time.

Our relationship grew from a simple acquaintance into a stronger bond when we began our educational journeys in the Hoboken Public Schools—Brandt and Wallace—both finding teaching as our career path after our studies at FDU and JCSC respectively.

Hoboken’s school administrative offices were connected to Wallace School, where Pat taught 8th grade right next door to an old dear friend, Peter Hetzel. His grade-eight colleagues—Ed, Joey, Madeline, Gloria, Sam, and Peter—were always down the hallway, where conversations about kids often turned into friendly chats.

As Supervisor of Reading, I made many trips there to talk and teach, both in official and unofficial capacities. Tips on handling young teenagers—through instruction and classroom management—were discussed formally, often with side tracks into sports, entertainment, local politics, and our growing families.

It was there that I found Pat to be insightful and more than kind, often alongside his sidekick Peter Hetzel.

When Pat ventured into local politics, he became part of the force of the Young Dems Club, which served as the incubator of Hoboken politics. He made his mark when Mayor Tom Vezzetti suddenly passed away. Pat decided to run and captured the mayor’s seat.

Even as mayor, he stayed in touch and made time for lunch on a few occasions. Of course, our conversations often turned to baseball—the Yankees—and to the story of Maria Pepe from Hoboken, the first female in Little League in the country. The story had been written by an upcoming writer, Geraldo Rivera, and was part of our Holt reading series. Pat would often mention Maria, who played for the Young Dems Little League team, spirited along by Carmine Ronga and James Farina in the 1970s.

Mr. Pasculli somehow always managed to connect Hoboken to its proud claim as the birthplace of baseball, even in casual conversation.

I once told him that my wife was teaching a unit on baseball in her class in Teaneck. Pat took the time to drive to our town—as the mayor of Hoboken—to co-teach a lesson on baseball. Later, he gave her a 24-by-36-inch poster that read Hoboken, the Birthplace of Baseball, which is still proudly displayed in our hallway.

That was the genuine Patty—precious in his own way as a teacher, showing middle school students that a Hudson County instructor was first, and mayor second. Pat had a way of catching the magic of being both.

Dennis Sevano was born and raised in Hoboken. He writes frequently about sports figures and notables in the Mile Square City. He currently resides in Teaneck