his entire family by his side the day before his 77th birthday.
Ken was born to the late Lillian and Irvin Pagach in Austin, Texas on August 1, 1941 and spent
most of his childhood in Texas. The family moved to New Jersey in 1956 when he was 15 years
old.
Ken graduated from Ramsey High School in 1959, received a Bachelor of Arts in Education
from Rutgers University in 1964 and completed his Masters in Education at Montclair State
University in 1975.
He was married for 55 years to his high school sweetheart, Diana L. Pagach. They lived in
Edison, NJ for 32 years before relocating to Marco Island, FL in 1998.
Ken was a Physical Education Teacher and Wrestling Coach at Edison High School until he
retired in 1998. His 30-year coaching career included six Coach of the Year awards and he was
inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, OK in 2012. He was happiest
when he was coaching.
His teams won nine District titles, finishing 2nd on 11 occasions, three County titles and three
Conference Championships. Ken coached two individual State Champions, 12 State medalists, 33 State Qualifiers, 145 Tournament Championships and 285 finalists in tournament action.
A 20-year member of the NJ Wrestling Officials Association and 29-year member of the
Coaches Association, Ken served as State President, Region 5 President, and State ranking
Chairman and was proud to be the creator of the ranking system used to determine the NJ
State Team Sectional qualifiers which is still used to this day.
He was an avid reader, loved to fish and boat, and spent many summers as the Manager of
Woodside Swim Club in Edison, NJ. He built two successful small businesses, We-Do-Windows
in NJ and KenCo Homewatchers on Marco Island. He was proudly working his accounts on
Marco Island in the days after his cancer diagnosis gave him less than one year to live, but took
him from us in less than than three weeks.
Ken loved life on Marco Island. He retired with Diana to the island in the summer of 1998 and
immediately joined the Marco Island Sailing and Yacht Club, later becoming one the founding
members of the Marco Island Yacht Club. Over the years he was an active member serving on
the Board of Directors, Membership Committee, House and Staff and as a Cruise Captain. He
was also a longtime member of the Marco Men’s Club enjoying many trips, cruises and social
events. Ken was often heard saying, “When I dreamed of retirement, this is exactly what I
thought it would be like.”
Before his passing, Ken confided that there was nothing left on his bucket list. He told Diana
he’d had a wonderful life, was proud of his three kids and had great friendships along the way.
He was not a religious man, but had a strong moral compass, believing in a higher power and the overall goodness of mankind. His life was a reflection of these beliefs.
Ken is survived by his wife Diana, his children Kip, Kyle and Jessica and his brother Richard. He
is also survived by his six grandchildren, Jake, Jordan, Tanner, Kendall, Cody and Luke.
A Celebration of Ken’s Life will be held at 1 pm on Sunday, September 2nd, 2018 at the Marco
Island Yacht Club. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Coach
Pagach Memorial Scholarship awarded each year to the Edison High School wrestler with the
highest GPA. You can donate here:
https://www.gofundme.com/CoachPagach
The family will also be hosting “A Night Honoring Coach Ken Pagach” in NJ at a date and
location to be determined.
He will be missed by many and remembered by even more.
“Don’t Cry because it’s over…Smile because it happened.” - Dr. Seuss.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18