Anthony Pascale, priest, WWII veteran

Advertiser Staff

Father Anthony Pascale, a former U.S. Marine who fought at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima during World War II, died Jan. 9. He was 85.

Pascale was born on Sept. 17, 1917, in Syracuse, N.Y. He was a member of the Military Academy Band at West Point from 1937 to 1940, when he enlisted with the Marines.

His first assignment was at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. With the outbreak of World War II, he was sent to the Pacific and was stationed in New Zealand, Australia, Hawai'i and Japan.

Pascale fought at Guadalcanal in 1942 and Iwo Jima in 1945, earning several medals. After doing repatriotism duty during the occupation of Japan, he received an honorable discharge as a staff sergeant.

Pascale began his studies for the priesthood at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., and was ordained in Syracuse for the Diocese of Honolulu in 1958. His first assignment was as associate pastor at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

He also worked at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish and was a professor at St. Stephen Seminary in Kane'ohe. In 1969, he founded the St. John Apostle and Evangelist parish in Mililani and served as its first pastor until 1972.

Pascale's last assignment was as associate pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Honolulu from 1972 until his retirement in 1985. Although retired, he assisted at several parishes, served as a hospital chaplin and played the mandolin with the diocesan Commission on Sacred Music.

Visitation is from 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace; Mass at 7 p.m. Burial will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Hawaiian Memorial Park.