Peter L. Pesoli

Peter L. Pesoli, Sr., beloved father and St. Edward's professor, passed from this life on Sunday, July 6, 2008, at age 84. Son of Italian immigrants Aventino Pesoli and Angelina Mariani Pesoli, he grew up in Ithaca, New York. The youngest of four children, he was the first to attend college, going to Syracuse University on a football and academic scholarship. His college studies were interrupted after his freshman year and during World War II when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He flew 35 missions over Europe as a radio operator/gunner in B-17 planes. After the war, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English at the University of Notre Dame and, as a committed Catholic layperson, began teaching at a Brothers of the Holy Cross high school for boys in Italy. Pete was a born teacher: passionate about literature, deeply engaging in his presentations, able to spark understanding and appreciation in his students. In 1954, he became a faculty member at St. Edward's University in Austin, another, Brothers of the Holy Cross school. Here he would teach for 48 years, illuminating Shakespeare, poetry, literature and life for generations of students. He had experienced the loss of many crew members in World War II, and this loss informed and infused his teaching of such poems as Randall Jarrell's "Death of the Ball Turret Gunner." He repeatedly received recognition as an exceptional teacher, including the university Teaching Excellence Award in 1971. Pete was proudest of his children and their families: Angela Peterman and her husband David and children Andrew and Jack, of Houston; Monica Pesoli and children Lucian, Lillian, and Clement, of Houston; Peter Pesoli, Jr. and wife Laura and children Amy, Elena, and Isabella, of Austin; Michael Pesoli and wife Jill and children Madeline and Nicolas, of Austin; and Christina Pesoli and children Aaron Terwey and Hannah Grace Brannon, of Austin. He is also survived by Carole Jones of Austin. Pete lived his values. He was active in the civil rights movement in Austin in the 1960s, helped put together an anti-poverty program in the South, and spoke out against the Vietnam War. At St. Edward's, he helped institute a chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and served both as its president and as president of the state chapter. Pete was outspoken, stubborn, and tenacious. He was a faithful Catholic who challenged Catholic orthodoxy, a faithful American who challenged national policies he knew to be unfair, a faithful professor who challenged the system when it did not honor the student or academic freedom. Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9, at Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home, 2620 S. Congress. Mass of the Christian burial will be celebrated at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel on the St. Edward's University Campus, 3001 S. Congress, at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2008. Interment will follow at Assumption Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to St. Edward's University (University Advancement, SEU, 3001 S. Congress, Austin, TX 78704) as plans are being made for a scholarship fund in Pete's memory.