Woman killed in Sea Isle City accident had planned to retire there

Bernice Pasquarello and her husband, Joseph, loved their summer place in Sea Isle City so much that they planned to retire there.

The Medford couple had headed to their Jersey Shore home after Thanksgiving to oversee repairs to minor damage caused by Sandy. On Saturday morning, Bernice Pasquarello went out for a walk without her cellphone.

Worried when she was still missing at dusk, her husband called police, Msgr. James H. Dubell, the family's pastor at St. Mary of the Lakes Church in Medford, said Monday.

Authorities were waiting for his call.

Bernice Pasquarello, 69, had been fatally struck hours earlier by a Sea Isle public-works vehicle collecting storm debris on the oceanfront promenade, according to officials. She died at the scene around 1 p.m.

Police brought Joseph Pasquarello, 70, the earrings she had been wearing so he could confirm her identity.

"He was just so overwhelmed with grief and confusion," Dubell said. "There are still a lot of unanswered questions."

Authorities on Monday released details about the accident, which is under investigation.

Pasquarello was walking on the bicycle-and-pedestrian promenade near 52d Avenue when city employee Andrew Mattern backed his truck into her, the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office said.

Mattern, 33, had been picking up metal debris and had passed Pasquarello, who was walking in the opposite direction. A second public-works truck, following a short distance behind Mattern, was collecting wood, said Capt. Paul Skill of the Prosecutor's Office.

Mattern stopped when employees from the second truck yelled to him that he had missed some things, Skill said. He put the vehicle into reverse and struck Pasquarello from behind.

Pasquarello's family members could not be reached Monday.

The Philadelphia native moved to Medford 33 years ago. She and her husband were married for 47 years, according to information provided by the family to Moore Funeral Services.

Pasquarello had been a member of St. Mary's for decades, Dubell said. She served as a eucharistic minister and was an active member of the St. Mary of the Lakes School PTA, he said.

Her daughter, Andrea Peterson, is a second-grade teacher at St. Mary of the Lakes School, the pastor said.

Pasquarello also was active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which caters to the needy, proving food, shelter, rent, and other help, Dubell said. She had served on the society's board, according to the funeral home.

"She was good about visiting the sick, the homebound, and bringing them Holy Communion - keeping them connected with the parish," Dubell said.

No charges have been filed in the case.