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In Memoriam

Jesuit Father Louis B. Pascoe died on April 27, 2015, at Murray- Weigel Hall, Bronx, New York, at age 84. He was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, on April 5, 1930, and was a Jesuit for 62 years. He was the son of Santo and Rose (Cerra) Pascoe. After graduation from Benjamin Franklin High School, Carbondale, he graduated from the University of Scranton in 1952.

He entered the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus on July 30, 1952, at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues, Wernersville, Pennsylvania. Following his novitiate program and one year of college studies, he moved in 1955 to Loyola Seminary, Shrub Oak, for the study of philosophy. He completed his studies there in 1958 gaining a Licentiate in philosophy, and the B.A. and M.A. degrees in medieval history from Fordham University.

For his regency he was professor of Latin and Greek at Georgetown University (1958-61). In 1961 he crossed the ocean to study theology at Louvain, Belgium, and was awarded the S.T.B. degree in 1963. He completed his theology studies at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland, gaining the Licentiate in Theology in 1965. Fr. Pascoe was ordained a priest at Woodstock College on June 14, 1964. He celebrated 50 years of Jesuit priesthood last year. From 1960-70 he studied and gained his doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in medieval history from UCLA in Los Angeles.

Fr. Pascoe then began a long and distinguished career of teaching history, first at Woodstock College, New York, 1971-73, and then at Fordham University from 1973-2001. In a break from his teaching, he enjoyed several sabbatical years, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and twice at Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, Berkeley, California. In 2001 he became professor emeritus of history at Fordham and continued his research and writing.

His writings include “The Church and Reform; Bishops, Theologians and Canon Lawyers in the Thought of Pierre d’Ailly, 1351-1420.” He also authored “Jean Gerson: Principles of Church Reform.” In 1999 he was honored by his colleagues in a book entitled “Studies in Honor of Louis Pascoe, S.J. – Reform and Renewal in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.”

With declining health he moved on the Fordham University campus from Kohlmann Hall to the Jesuit infirmary, Murray-Weigel Hall. He died there on April 27, quite appropriately on the feast of the Jesuit scholar and writer, St. Peter Canisius. He is survived by his brother Ronald Pascoe, Sr.