Edward Pesaresi

Dr. Edward Pesaresi, known to his Italian family by his given name of “Premo,” and fondly to his friends by his chosen name of “Ed,” passed away peacefully on January 11, 2011, in the home of his son Don in Ithaca, NY. Ed was 94-years old. He was the beloved husband of 43 years of the late Ardis Tokle Pesaresi of Canton, South Dakota, and was the extraordinary father of two children who survive him: Joe (Mary) and Don (Marjory), both of Ithaca, NY. His family extended to four grandchildren: Sara Pesaresi Kreher (Brian) of Pittsford, NY, Anne Pesaresi, Julie Pesaresi, and Christopher Pesaresi, all of Ithaca, NY.

Ed had one great-grandson, Charles Kreher. He is survived by his brothers Edmond and Adam, his sister Dorothy, and his sister-in-law, Ada, of Portsmouth, NH, as well as many well-loved nieces and nephews.

Ed's story is as American as all first generation citizens of this country whose parents had come to seek better lives from the hardship of the old country, in Ed's case from Italy. Ed was a pure reflection of the “greatest generation,” to which he was proudly born: honorable, hard-working, loving to his family, inspiring to his students, morally grounded, quietly ambitious, intellectually curious, and devilishly witty. He loved his family, his students, the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, and golf with his many buddies at Timber Pines in Florida, the York Country Club in Maine and the Cornell Golf Course in New York roughly in that order.

He was born on October 3, 1916 in Portsmouth, NH, the eldest son of six children of Mario Pesaresi and Vittoria Fracassi Pesaresi. He spent his childhood among the Italian families who settled in this port city, and laughed about the fact that he couldn't speak English when his “beautiful” first-grade teacher talked to him, and he couldn't understand a word she said. Perhaps it was her kind understanding that led Ed to want to become a teacher himself. But it was his passion for sports - baseball, football, basketball – that carried Ed through the hardship of the depression years, and triumphantly through Portsmouth High School. At that point, college beckoned. Helped by his uncle, Renato Fracassi, a graduate of MIT, Ed was able to earn his BA from the University of New Hampshire in 1941 before he was called into the Army. He rose to the rank of Captain, and served in the Quartermaster Corps during World War II, first in New Guinea, then in the Philippines.

His return to the states brought the New England boy to Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where Ed began his teaching and coaching career, while earning a BS. It was here that he met a petite, bubbly, adorable red-headed lass to whom he was instantly smitten. Ardis “Tuk” Tokle was a first generation American herself, although her parents hailed from Norway. Ardis thought the black-haired, olive skinned young man looked just like the actor Robert Taylor. They were married in South Dakota, and began their family in the mid-west with the birth of their older son. The little family returned east, where Ed earned his master's degree from Springfield College, and his Ed. D from Syracuse University.

Ed's greatest joy came from his teaching / coaching career at Ithaca College beginning in 1957 and ending with his reluctant retirement in 1982 (only because it was mandatory at the time to retire at age 65). Ed took a passionate interest in his students, both in the classroom and on the gridiron, the baseball diamond, and the basketball court. He was professor and chairman of the Department of Health and Physical Education, and taught all phases of the physical education curriculum on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. He was Coach Pesaresi to generations of Ithaca College athletes, including the famous Bombers baseball team who astonished the collegiate world with an impressive showing at the NCAA 1962 National Collegiate Baseball Championship. The Pesaresi home (and kitchen and dining table) was a favorite gathering spot for hungry young athletes, and Tuk allowed them to invade her refrigerator at will, and treated all of them to heaping bowls of spaghetti. For Ed's splendid contributions to athletics at Ithaca College, he was initiated into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. Many of his former students were at the ceremony to laud him.

In a cherished note from one of his students, Sam Curko, who was initiated into the Athletic Hall of Fame himself, wrote what many of his fellow athletes thought, “Dear Coach P., in my heart, I find you to be our great mentor. . . I look up to you as if you were the father I no longer have. All the great athletes of your time at I.C. pay you tribute.”

Ed's last excursion with his entire family was on New Year's Eve 2010 when all gathered at Ling Ling's Restaurant, one of Ed's favorites. His fortune read, “Angels are among us; when you find them, cherish their presence every day.” As Ed slipped away from his family on January 11, they knew that one angel among them had returned home.

A mass of remembrance will be held in Ed's honor on Sat., Feb. 5 at 11am in the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 113 N. Geneva Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. In lieu of flowers, the family asks friends to consider a gift in memory of Professor Edward Pesaresi to the Ithaca College Baseball Program, c/o Paul Hesler, Alumni Hall, Ithaca College, 953 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. Ed would be pleased to know that his memory was helping Ithaca College athletes when he was no longer able to do so himself. Perkins Funeral Home is assisting the family. www.perkinsfuneralhome.com