TRENTON, NJ (AP) — Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey, a 14-term Democrat who was a fixture in his hometown of Paterson for more than four decades, died Wednesday. He was 87.
Pascrell had recently been in and out of the hospital because of an illness. According to his longtime chief of staff, Ben Rich, he died Wednesday morning at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce that Bill Pascrell Jr., our beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away this morning,” a statement on Pascrell’s X-account said. “Bill fought until his final breath to return to the job he loved so much and to the people he loved.”
Pascrell was scheduled to run for a 15th term in the fall.
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Pascrell has long been an advocate for emergency responder safety, spearheading the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement Act, which provides direct grants to fire departments across the country.
He was instrumental in getting Great Falls recognized as a national historic park. The waterfall, located on the Passaic River in Paterson, is 77 feet high and is a landmark of the city and its past as an industrial town. Pascrell used the waterfall on his office letterhead.
Known for his outspokenness and willingness to exploit New Jersey’s reputation for tough politics, he served on the influential House Appropriations Committee, which handles tax legislation. After Superstorm Sandy devastated the state’s coasts in 2012, causing $65 billion in damage, and some lawmakers refused to approve aid, he took to the floor of the House to rebuke them.
“I don’t think this is the time for a pedantic debate. It’s time to take the gloves off – Jersey style,” Pascrell said. The House of Representatives passed the bill two days later.
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Pascrell lived in Paterson his entire life and served in the Army and Army Reserves after college and graduate school. He worked as a teacher in Paterson and served on the school board there from 1979 to 1982 before entering the state legislature.
He served as mayor of Paterson from 1990 to 1996 and then ran for Congress.
A baseball fan and occasional player who coached the Democratic team at this year’s Congressional Baseball Game, he said in an interview with Roll Call that he had two tryouts with the Philadelphia Phillies
“I was a catcher. I weighed 120 pounds in high school. I loved it. Before every game, I would eat a little dirt to scare the other team. They said the guy was completely crazy,” he said.
Democratic Governor Phil Murphy remembered Pascrell’s “unwavering instinct to draw strength from the diversity of our state” and said he was a “champion of the rights of our most vulnerable fellow human beings.”
