What was Bill Pascrell Jr.’s cause of death?

Born on Jan. 25, 1937, in Paterson, New Jersey, William James Pascrell Jr. — better known as Bill Pascrell — was a politician and, from 1997, a United States representative from New Jersey who lived in the town he was born in most of his life.

A member of the Democratic Party, Pascrell’s political career spanned five decades. Before he was elected to the House of Representatives, he served in the New Jersey General Assembly for four terms starting in 1988 and was elected to two terms as mayor of his hometown.

Pascrell, the grandson of Italian immigrants, attended New York City’s Fordham University, where he gained a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in philosophy. He served in the United States Army and United States Army Reserves, worked as a high school teacher in Paramus, New Jersey, teaching psychology (among several other subjects) as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and served on the Paterson Board of Education (as its president at one stage), and on Passaic County Community College’s board of trustees. Suffice it to say he lived a rich life and achieved many great things.

Sadly, on Aug. 21, 2024, Pascrell passed away in Livingston, New Jersey. He was 87.

How did Bill Pascrell Jr. die?

Bill Pascrell suffered numerous health scares in the final years of his life, including in 2020, when he underwent heart surgery to unblock several arteries (as per Politico). However, it was in 2024 when his health seriously began to deteriorate.

He was admitted to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson on July 14, where he was treated for an unspecified respiratory illness and spent some time in intensive care. Initially, he was discharged for rehabilitation on Aug. 7 but was readmitted just four days later. Unfortunately, Pascrell would never make it out of the hospital, as he died at Livingston’s Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, where he had been moved as his condition worsened (as per the New Jersey Globe). While a cause hasn’t been specified, his death was presumably related to the respiratory illness that hospitalized him twice in his final days.

As per CBS News, his family said he “fought to his last breath to return to the job he cherished and to the people he loved.”

May he rest in peace.