Cecil Bennett "Ben" Pascal

1926 - 2018

Cecil "Ben"
Bennett Pascal

1926 - 2018

Born in Chicago, Illinois to Jack Pascal and Goldie (Zeff) Pascal, Ben had two siblings, Aaron and Hannah. When he was eleven, the family moved to Los Angeles, California.

In 1941, while in the boy scouts in LA, he hand delivered wartime messages on his bicycle for the civil guard and army. Two years later, Ben enlisted in the U.S. Navy, but waited a year, until he graduated from Belmont High to serve (1944-1946).

After WWll, Ben entered the world of academia: BA (1949), and an MA (1950) from UCLA, an MA (1953), and a PhD (Classical Philology, 1956) from Harvard, Harvard Traveling fellow, Padua, Italy (1956-1957), Fulbright-Hays fellow, Rome, Italy (1967-1968). He specialized in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Mythology and often conducted research in Latin, Ancient Greek, Koinonia Greek, Italian, Hebrew, French, and German.

After international study, he became an instructor at the University of Illinois, Champaign (1955-1956), and then an instructor at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (1957-1960).

He met his wife at Cornell, and in 1960, the family moved to Eugene where he became a professor of the Classics at the University of Oregon. He served as department head various years. In 1996, he was honored to become a Professor Emeritus.

Ben's wife, Ilene (1936-2013) earned an MA in Classical Languages in 1965 before turning to the world of business to allow the family the freedom to travel.

Ben loved Eugene as a home base, yet also enjoyed taking Sabbaticals with his family in Rome, Italy. In his spare time in Italy, Ben took paper casts of incomplete epitaphs on ancient tombstones, filled in the missing letters, and translated them for various museums.

His works of scholarship include the book Cults of the Cisalpine Gaul (1964) and October Horse (1981).

Ben served as president of The American Philological Association and The Archeological Institute of America; he loved archeology.

His pleasure writing included an article and follow-up editorials for the Journal of Irreproducible Results and an as yet unpublished novel.

Ben's many interests included: downhill skiing, playing in a classical recorder group, wry humor, fishing, fly-tying, gardening (indoor and outdoor), jogging, photography, solving the daily newspaper crossword in pen, in order, from left to right, and bicycling...

He was one of the early members of the Bike Committee of Eugene (1971-1983). Ben designed several of the scenic bike routes around the University, as well as helping to plan Alton Baker Park.

Ben had a lifelong love for classical music, attending the symphony, chamber music programs, classical music festivals, and even concerts in the park.

Above all, Ben showed extreme devotion to his family, including their pets. Together, the family loved to travel and allow Ben to explore historical markers of all types, and the occasional graveyard for his research.

He participated in various synagogues, although later in life most of his time was devoted to the orthodox synagogue, where he felt most comfortable.

Ben lived with his son, Keith, daughter-in-law, Kathryn, and granddaughter, Quinn, for the last five years. "Q.P." had a special relationship with her Zade (Ben).

Ben Pascal is survived by his sister Hannah Ackerman, his Eugene family, and several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations "in memory

of ..." to KWAX (classical music radio), OPB, or your favorite library.

To help us through the mourning process, please send any personal stories and funny anecdotes about Ben - to keith@keithpascal.com or to The Pascals, 2749 Friendly St., Suite "A," Eugene, OR, 97405.

Please access the obituary and you are invited


to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com