Donald Anthony Pascal

Donald Anthony Pascal passed away unexpectedly but peacefully at his home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on August 29, 2025, at the age of 94.

Don was born in Brooklyn, New York to Anthony and Grace (Augliera) Pascale on October 24, 1930. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1948, earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1951, and an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1953. Following a two-year stint in the Army, he returned to the University of Delaware and was awarded his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1957.

Don spent the next 40 or so years working for E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company. He was a named inventor on several patents in the plastics, paints, and finishes field. In the latter part of his career, Don transitioned out of the lab and worked in Information Systems. Don also taught night classes in Physical Chemistry at the University of Delaware for several years.

In 1953, Don married fellow Brooklyn native Katherine (“Kay”) Gallelli. In 1966, they settled in Wilmington, Delaware with their two small children. After separating from Kay in 1976, Don legally modified his last name to “Pascal.”

A lifelong sports fan, Don was most passionate about ice hockey. A longtime member of the Skating Club of Wilmington, Don played many seasons with the “Wilmington Wheels” hockey program (despite losing his front teeth to the puck on more than one occasion). He held season tickets to the Philadelphia Flyers for decades. He was a certified member of the USA Hockey Officiating Program, and after moving to Colorado in retirement, he remained an active hockey referee at the Breckenridge Ice Arena until his late 70s.

Don was also a downhill skiing enthusiast, which he took up in his late 20s with many excursions to the (now-defunct) Gray Rocks resort in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. In mid-life, he took annual trips to a variety of Western ski resorts in addition to Killington or Stowe in Vermont. Skiing even led Don to his second wife, Peg, whom he met through a work friend on an impromptu ski trip to the Poconos. They married in 1988.

In the fall of 1996, Don retired, and he and Peg moved to Silverthorne, Colorado. Always very athletic (regularly playing handball and tennis in addition to hiking, skating, and skiing), he ramped up his sports profile in retirement, adding Nordic skiing, bicycling, and kayaking. He and Peg especially enjoyed being part of the “Over the Hill Gang” at Copper Mountain.

Don was very active in the Summit County community, and was named “Senior of the Year” in 2004. The full article can be found at the following link: https://www.summitdaily.com/news/whos-there-8. He and Peg also traveled around the world and across the U.S. They even accomplished an American Volkssport Association challenge to visit and complete events in all 50 U.S. state capitals and Washington, D.C.

Don had countless other passions in life. He was a very talented amateur photographer. A voracious reader and autodidact, he was a member of several book clubs and a frequent discussion leader. Don’s sense of humor was legendary, and he was still doing a stand-up routine for neighborhood friends in his 90s. Don was one of the original foodies, raised on great Italian cooking but seeking out and taking immense pleasure in many world cuisines (particularly the desserts).

As Peg’s health declined, she and Don relocated in 2005 to the Gleneagles Village community in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Don acquired the flags of many of the countries they had visited and flew them outside their house on historically relevant dates, accompanied by an educational email with photo to close friends and family which he proudly signed as “Flagman.” Don steadfastly supported Peg throughout her long battle with multiple myeloma, to which she finally succumbed in July 2017.

Don was predeceased by his parents; his sister, Marilyn Pascale Ragazzo; his ex-wife, Katherine Gallelli Pascale Burke; stepdaughter Barbara Haverfield; and his beloved second wife of 29 years, Margaret (“Peg”) Moone Haverfield Pascal.

He is survived by his daughter Karen Pascale (William Yemc) and son Mark Pascale (Geraldine Mercato), both of Wilmington, DE; granddaughter Madeleine Yemc of New York, NY; nephews Robert Ragazzo (Maria) and Steven Ragazzo, both of Houston, TX; stepsons James Haverfield and Scott Haverfield, both of Wilmington, DE; and his dear friend Elsie Draper of Highlands Ranch, CO.

Contributions in memory of Don may be made to University of Delaware – Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (udel.edu/giving); Rocky Mountain PBS (rmpbs.org), Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org), Colorado Symphony (coloradosymphony.org), or Opera Colorado (operacolorado.org).

Two Celebrations of Life are being planned for Don, one in the Highlands Ranch, CO area for local friends, and another in Wilmington, DE for other friends and family.