Autobiographical Sketch of Gary Passarino
(and his memories of SJC)
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gary.lois

 IN THE ABOVE PHOTO Gary and Lois with Jack Quatman and Father Gregoire at our mini-class reunion in March of 2007 at Larry Percell's parish hall in Los Altos.

 After St. Joseph ’s, I went to Catholic University (with Dave Valtierra and Joe Carroll) and studied philosophy, while living at the Sulpician seminary, Theological College .  In 1969-70, I decided to leave the seminary and started applying for law schools (I couldn’t think of anything else to do with a degree in philosophy) and started law school at Northwestern in Chicago in the Fall of 1970.  My studies were interrupted by time spent in VISTA doing my alternate service as a conscientious objector.  [A colleague’s daughter just returned from a post-college graduation trip to Vietnam; we talked about the irony of Vietnam now being a ‘hot’ tourist destination when so many of us did our best to avoid seeing the countryside 40 years ago; tempus fugit.]  I returned to law school, graduated in 1974, took the Bar Exam, and started practicing in 1975.  I have stayed in the Santa Rosa area and am currently living and working in Healdsburg – as close as possible to an ideal work situation.  My wife, Lois, and I have a practice that focuses on estate planning, probate, trust administration, and conservatorships.  I enjoy the work we do because we are problem-solving and our efforts  produce positive results for people.    


   CONTINUED BIO FROM LEFT   I married in 1971 and divorced in 1994.  We had no children.  Lois and I married in 1996.  We were business partners and friends first, and the rest has just happened – and happily so.  Lois decided to convert to Catholicism several years ago, and we both went through the annulment process.  When that was finished, we had a small gathering at our parish church.  Larry Percell was there as a deacon, and our pastor invited him to perform the wedding portion of the proceedings, which topped off a fabulous day.  We stay in fairly regular contact with Larry.
    We have no children, but 20+ nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and –nephews that seem to arrive at a rate of about two a year, as the nieces and nephews get married and start families.  Lois is originally from South Dakota , so we are there frequently for weddings and baptisms, etc.
   The most difficult part of my life now is dealing with my elderly parents.  Fortunately, they are mentally alert and competent, but declining physically.  My mother is in the last stage of congestive heart failure, so we are marking time.  Lois’s mother is 93 and also declining.  So we expect these next few months to indeed be a time of transition.
   We are healthy, busy, and enjoy our lifestyle.  Our recreation consists of reading, walking, hiking, and running (I have a half-marathon scheduled for the end of October on my birthday; it seemed like a good idea at the time).   -9/23/08


SOME OF GARY'S MEMORIES OF SJC: I find it amazing that, although it has been 38 years since I left the seminary, those nine years remain the most influential years of my life – not in the sense that I relive them but rather on the impact they had on my world view, my sense of history, and my values.  For example, I heard Fred Thompson interviewed earlier this year.  When asked if he would rule out torture as an interrogation device, he said he would not, that he would authorize any means necessary to get information from prisoners, detainees, etc.  And the words that popped into my head were: the end never justifies the means.  I don’t believe we ever had a course that focused on ethical issues and specifically on that concept.  It was just repeated over and over again, in various contexts, and I have never forgotten it.
   A few years ago, I met up with a fellow alumnus in a local park and we ended up running together.  We discussed the Sulps and we made the observation that their success rate for producing priests was pretty thin, at least objectively.  We speculated that perhaps they had a secondary objective: to produce well-spoken, well-read, ethical, Christian gentlemen.  It appears to me that they succeeded.
    I visited Al Giaquinto a few years ago and he wrote something in the book that I had with me.  I can’t quote it from memory, but it was to the effect that it is remarkable to have friends and people in our lives with whom we can pick up after years apart or out of contact and resume where we left off.  That is how I feel about my classmates and friends from my seminary years.”   

 gary.passarino@gmail.com    last modified by editor: 9/22/2016