A Salute to Bill Pascrell

Bill Pascrell, one of the Champions of the Ryan White Cares Act and its extensions, was laid to rest today from St. John’s Cathedral in Paterson, NJ.

“I am thankful to Congressman Pascrell for securing this grant extension for the City of Paterson,” said Mayor Andre Sayegh. “A goal of mine as mayor is to improve health quality and quantity for Patersonians. HIV is a long standing epidemic and this grant will allow us to continue the essential work of assisting our residents affected by HIV.”

Today’s announcement is the latest in Rep. Pascrell’s efforts to secure critical health care funding for New Jersey’s Ninth Congressional District. Over 37,000 people are living with HIV or AIDS in New Jersey, which ranks among the highest in the nation for overall cumulative HIV cases. Rep. Pascrell leads the annual federal appropriations request for HIV/AIDS funding of the Ryan White Program, the HIV prevention programs at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health. While Mayor of Paterson, Pascrell served as chairman of the Paterson-Passaic-Bergen HIV Planning Council during the early years of the Ryan White Program, which works with cities, states, and local community-based organizations to provide HIV-related services to more than a half a million people each year.     https://pascrell.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4169

Bill was a strong advocate for not only HIV Services, but a strong advocate for LGBT rights and briding the gap of  health disparity among all minority group.  In the early 1990’s he was the CEO of the Planning Council for HIV services in Bergen and Passaic counties.   Steve Scheuermann worked with Bill and Frank Pallone at gathering information and support for Ryan White extensions in 2009.

We are thankful for that and extend a salute to William J. Pascrell, Jr.  We also send sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

FUNERAL SERVICE

OBITUARY