With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Nicholas Michael Pastore.  He unexpectedly passed away on July 25th in his home near the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina.  He will be dearly missed.

Nick was born on September 18, 1940 in New Haven, CT to Nicholas Richard and Helen Fortune (Sabetta) Pastore.  He is survived by his daughter Lisa (Chris) Bendz, son Nick (Lauren) Pastore, and former spouse Carol.  He was a doting grandfather to Laura, Clara, and Victoria, and Alex, Penny, and Julian.  He was the beloved big brother of Jim (Joan) Pastore and Carol (Tom) Keefe, and will be missed by his many cousins, nieces, and nephews.  

We have created this site so that we can celebrate Nick’s life and to collect and share memories of him.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will coordinate a virtual celebration and share those details once they are available.  

Nick grew up in Derby, CT and graduated from Derby High School in 1958.  As a teenager, Nick learned to play the guitar and would practice for weekly lessons by happily playing for his sister and cousins.  He spent significant time at the YMCA in Ansonia, where his coaches taught him to box and about good nutrition, which he embraced throughout his life.  

Nick loved to dance and used his little sister as his dance partner, teaching her Ricky Nelson dance moves while they played records and listened to the radio. He picked dancing back up later in life when he moved to Bend, Oregon, where he loved to participate in classes and meet-up groups.  He learned countless different dancing styles and his favorite was the east coast swing.  He delighted in teaching others, and was always tickled pink when his dancing talent was recognized.

Nick attended West Virginia Wesleyan College, where he enjoyed playing football on his fraternity football team.  His mother encouraged him to study to become a dentist rather than a doctor so that he could have traditional work hours and spend more time with his future family.  He graduated from Northwestern University Dental School in 1966, which made his whole family proud.  

Nick relocated back to Connecticut, where he started and successfully maintained his own dental practice in Hamden with the support of his wife, Carol.  He loved his extended family and felt it was important to spend time together.  There were many family gatherings where Pinochle was the game of choice, and Nick continued the tradition with his own young family, teaching Lisa and Nicky how to play. 

Nick loved the outdoors and nature, which he inherited from his father.  His time in boy scouts was important to him and he achieved the level of Eagle Scout as a teenager, which was a source of great pride for the whole family.  He continued his passion for outdoor activities throughout his life.  He loved to hike and spent countless hours with his young family at Sleeping Giant State Park, down the street from their family home on Mt. Carmel Ave.  After Lisa and Nicky left for college, he would hike the “head” trail  with the family’s golden retriever, Sandy, who he loved like a 3rd child and best friend.  Over time, he would expand his  hiking prowess beyond Sleeping Giant to all over the country including the White Mountains, Glacier National Park, the Canadian Rockies, North Cascades, and, his favorite, the Eastern Sierras.  He loved to share photos from trips, giving superbly detailed stories of his hikes to anyone willing to lend an ear.

His love of the outdoors extended beyond hiking.  He loved to ski and taught Lisa and Nicky to ski at Okemo and Mt. Killington in Vermont.  After taking many years off from skiing, he picked it right back up after moving to Bend.  He moved there to have immediate access to outdoor activities like hiking, skiing, and kayaking.  At the age of 73, he didn’t take his foot off the gas and joined a ski club, often hitting the Mt. Bachelor slopes, where he didn’t look a day older than 20 skiing.

Nick loved to sail and had a CS 27 sailboat that he would spend countless hours maintaining.  The family  took trips to Shelter and Block Islands, where they would spend time bicycling around the islands and playing on the beach.  He taught Lisa and Nicky to navigate on the open waters when they were little kids; impressed by their skills, Nick would brag about them at every chance he had.  

Nick had a natural love for learning, particularly for history and science.  He was a lifelong student of history and had a passion for studying the Civil War.  He knew extensive details of most battles and could talk for hours once he got going.  Stops on family vacations included famous battle sites, including Antietam and Gettysburg.  

In Nick’s last few years, nothing brought a bigger smile to his face than his grandchildren.  He frequently requested pictures that he would immediately forward to family members, always noting how special they are.  Nick frequently remarked on their special sibling bonds and how it reminded him so much of Nicky and Lisa as children.  His grandchildren were his pride and joy.

While his passing was sudden, he never wanted life to drag out with suffering.  In his 70s, Nick said he was burning the candle hard and wanted to see what he had left.  He sure did, and he did it his way.  

The most important contribution Nick’s family and friends could make at this time is to share personal stories, pictures, videos and memories with us through this website. 

If anyone would like to contribute in other ways, the family would request that donations be made to the Sleeping Giant Park Association (SGPA) by clicking this link (https://sgpa.org/product/donation/).  

You can learn more about the SGPA by clicking this link (https://sgpa.org/2020/02/01/do-you-work-for-the-park/).  When living in Connecticut, Nick spent so much time at this park and he would be happy to know that the park is being taken care of for others to enjoy as well.