Anthony Henry Pascal

1933 - 2017

July 30, 1933 - April 3, 2017 Anthony Henry Pascal-Tony for short-was a brilliant and kind-hearted man, loved by all who knew him. A well-respected economist, a devoted family man and a loyal friend, Tony is and always will be sorely missed by those who have lost him. Born in 1933, Tony grew up in Boyle Heights, surrounded by his extended family. His older sister Rita and cousins Gil and Renee were more than just family-they were lifelong friends. Tony attended John Burroughs Middle School and later Fairfax High, where he met the love of his life and wife of 60 years, Barbara Edelberg. He went to UCLA to study economics and entered graduate school at Columbia University in 1956. That same year, he and Barbara were married in LA. Tony and Barbara's time in New York was among their happiest. He often spoke of the summer he and Barbara spent in a cabin in rural Saugerties, New York with no electricity and running water. Their daughter Amy was born nine months later in 1958. The family moved back to Los Angeles and Tony went to work at the RAND Corporation. It was the beginning of a 30-year career that took the Pascal family across the country, to Virginia when Tony worked for the Johnson administration and to Monterrey, Mexico, where his younger daughter Jenny was born in 1962. He was instrumental in establishing RAND's public policy division and his work included numerous studies of racial discrimination, poverty and public health policy. Tony and Barbara were dynamic and progressive partners, mixing in the worlds of academia, politics, the newly emerging feminist movement and LA's avant-garde art scene. They shared a love of art films, the Marx Brothers, camping and reading. Tony could often be seen cruising up the Pacific Coast Highway in his orange Volkswagen camper van headed to camping locations across California with his family-as long as there were hot springs to swim in. After his retirement in 1991, Tony began building intricate models of the homes of his family and friends as well as bygone 1940s Los Angeles architecture, like the Ocean Park pier and the Brown Derby. He kept up with all the latest technological developments, starting one of the first literary blogs, about mystery novels, and introducing his grandchildren Isabel, Charlie and Anthony to early computer programs. Tony built and inspired a family filled with passion, love and respect. He was an accomplished intellectual and a wonderful father, brother and friend. He is survived by his sister Rita, daughters Amy and Jenny, sons-in-law Bernie and Alex, and grandchildren, Isabel, Charlie and Anthony.