On Thursday, December 28, Stephen Edward Pascarella reported for work as he usually does. But there would be no working today. Instead, a special celebration was prepared in recognition of his 100th birthday. Mayor Frank Picozzi dropped into the offices of Pascarella & Gill at 200 Centreville Road to present a proclamation and listen to stories about his experience in Germany during the final days of WWII; his life journey.  

A CPA for over half a century, Pascarella’s office is filled with books and papers that spill out on the floor. He points to a chair filled with binders. “Put those on the floor,” he says. This is a place for work, not retirement.

“I do a lot of reading, to keep my brain running,” he says.  The secret he shares is to “keep on going.” His work brings him a sense of novelty, as he explains “the good is yet to come.”

  Yet it’s not all work. He has a passion for golf and gets out on the course whenever he can.

Pascarella is a member of the North Kingstown Country Club and was a very involved member of Quidnessett and Warwick Country Club as well.

Pascarella practices golf in his garage during the winter months until it is warm enough to get back on the course a couple times a week.

“During the warmer months, Steve will play nine holes of golf or more if he can stand it and both he and Elena go to Church every Sunday morning,” said Richard Winkler, a neighbor of Pascarella who wrote a biographical paper entitled No Big Deal, documenting Pascarella’s life.

Pascarella was born December 26th in the Silver Lake Section of Providence and is the youngest of five children. He had an older sister Rose and three brothers, Benny, Frank, and Arthur. 

His parents, Fiolmena Geremia and Francesco Pascarella lived in Naples, Italy and immigrated to the United States in 1905.

Stephen’s brothers each went into the trades, but his sister Rose encouraged Stephen to earn a college degree.

Sister pays for college tuition

Rose paid for his tuition at Bryant College in 1941, where he studied accounting and finance. He graduated in 1943 and soon thereafter was drafted in the army. 

When he reentered the workforce following his military service, with the encouragement of a professor and mentor Nelson J. Gulkski, Pascarella started an accounting firm with his friend John Trench in 1969: Pascarella & Trench. The firm was later renamed to Pascarella & Gill following Trench’s retirement.   

During and after the war, the Pascarelli brothers Stephen, Benny, Frank, and Arthur served a collective total of 12 years and 5 months in the military. “It was all born of necessity for the good and welfare and continued freedom and liberty of our country and our cherished neighbors and allies,” said Pascarella.   

As he reflects on his time during that period, he honors and reflects on the service of each of his brothers, especially his older brother Frank, a Purple Heart winner. “Frank was our family’s greatest army veteran, he was a real hero.”  

Pascarella was drafted in the United States Army on August 19, 1943, reporting to active duty for 13 weeks of training at Fort Devens.  After fighting in the war, he took on many different positions. Pascarella learned many skills during his service. One of his main duties was liaison for reconnaissance for artillery deployment, in which he was responsible for understanding topography of the terrain. 

Pascarella was sent to the European theatre of war, and was present at the Battle of the Bulge, one of the deadliest battles in American history.

After the war, Pascarella joined his company’s educational and recreational staff, during which time he taught many soldiers information about the citizens and culture of Germany. He was given this opportunity due his familiarity with the German language. “Steve was also the only person in his company that had graduated college, so this gave him a step-up academically from all others,” said Winkler.

Later on, Pascarella was involved in the military government. “Steve’s unit spent a considerable amount of time weeding out people who had influential Nazi positions. They also had the job of finding Nazi sympathizers who might otherwise seek to sabotage the efforts undertaken by the Allied forces,” said Winkler

As Pascarella reflected on challenging times during military training and the war, he says “given the alternatives, he was and continues to remain quite thankful. He is also certain that many who never returned would have certainly chomped at the bit for the chance to have had experiences that were so mundane where life was not continually on the line and the thought of making it until tomorrow was not the most pressing thing on their mind.”

In 1948 when Pascarella arrived home, he worked at the Providence City Hall Controller’s Office, where he met the love of his life, Eda Carnevale. They married on February 15, 1950.  “I made the right choice, she made me what I am today.  She was my staunchest supporter and energized me in every way,” Pascarella said.  

During his Pascarella’s 60 year career as a CPA , he served as chairman of the Rhode Island State Board of Accountancy and director to the National State Board of Accountancy. In 1984, just to name one of his awards, he received The Small Business Administrator’s Advocate of the Year Award. He also is co-author of the Rhode Island Regulations Governing Continuing Education for Public Accountants. 

“Steve really wasn’t interested in talking about himself.  He made that clear at the outset.  He isn’t that kind of person. Everything about him and his accomplishments, in his mind, no big deal.  He isn’t showy or boastful; he is a low-key, private and humble man who prefers little to no fanfare of any kind,” Winkler writes. 

“Religion played a large part in the family upbringing.  It was a rule of the family that you had to go to Mass every Sunday, or you would not be allowed to sit down for dinner,” Winkler writes. 

 His daughter Elaina M. Pascarella, who is a professional landscape architect, describes her father saying “he loves his family.  Family is very important to him and family comes first along with respect for others. That is what he taught his children.”  

“Growing up in the Pascarella home meant that you were surrounded by love and great discipline, Steve remembers being close to his mom and his dear sister Rose who both provided great love and comfort. His dad was clearly the family disciplinarian who set the tone for and established the rules of the castle,” Winkler writes.

Asked about current affairs in this country, he emphasized the need for unity and coming together for the greater good of the country. He pointed to the late Senator John Chafee as a man he admired for choosing the best person to do a job regardless of politics. Pascarella said “you don’t need a Democrat or Republican to do it.” He also offered opinions on presidents, ranking Lyndon Johnson at the bottom and Ronald Reagan at the top. He said his opinion of Jimmy Carter has improved over the years. 

On foreign affairs, Pascarella questioned why the country is spending so much money on the war in Ukraine and the Middle East.

His advice, as recorded by Winkler:  “if you want something, work for it and you will better appreciate its worth and value, nothing should be taken for granted, you have to be willing to accept fault and failure and refrain from blaming others, and always be civil and respectful toward one another.” 

Work. That’s just what he planned to get back to Thursday after a brief interruption to celebrate 100 years of life.