Pearl Yaszczemski

Extraordinary Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother

Pearl Yaszczemski joined her beloved husband Chet in Heaven on July 21, 2024, literally surrounded by her loving family. Pearl was 90 years young.

Family and friends may visit at the Mulligan Funeral Home, 331 Cleveland Avenue, Harrison, NJ 07029 on Wednesday from 3pm to 8pm, and Thursday morning after 9:00 am. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 10:30am at Holy Cross Church in Harrison. For more information and directions please visit mulliganfh.com.  Her Interment will take place in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Mocanaqua, PA.

Pearl was born in Eynon, PA to Mario and Antoinette Ascani, Italian immigrants seeking the American Dream.  She was raised in Mocanaqua where she attended Shickshinny High School and met the love of her life, Chester “Chet”.  Speaking fluent Italian, Pearl often joked that she was mistaken as Polish after marrying Chet in 1952 and taking his surname. Pearl and Chet moved east for better opportunities, following family members and settling in Harrison, where she joined Holy Cross Church and remained for the next 70 years. Pearl became an accomplished secretary and worked for several private companies, as well as the US Government during the Korean War while her husband was deployed for two years, but everyone knew her as Chet’s legal secretary for close to 30 years until his passing in 2006.

Pearl raised three children of whom she was very proud: Dr. Michael Yaszemski, a renowned orthopedic surgeon at the Mayo Clinic and an Air Force General, Eric, a successful businessman, and ten years later, her “baby” Anne-Marie, who has been a teacher in Harrison for 35 years. But, the real “apples of her eye” were her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She affectionately became known as “Grandma Pearl” to family and friends alike.

During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, Chet and Pearl were staples at Lehigh University football games, following them all around the country. Pearl became a surrogate mother to many Lehigh and Delta Upsilon alum, many of whom worked in Manhattan and lived with Pearl for a time. Pearl loved being a “football mom” to Michael and Eric, who were standout players on very successful teams--winning the Division II National Championship in 1977.

When Pearl learned that her grandchildren Paul and John had the rare illness Tuberous Sclerosis, in typical “Pearl fashion” she rolled up her sleeves and dove right in. Pre-Google, she learned as much as she could and educated her family and friends. She spent countless hours at PT/OT, speech therapy, neurosurgeries, and other hospital stays. Pearl learned the “roads” of Autism and special-needs, and she navigated them with skill.

Without her love, guidance, support, and assistance, the “boys” would not be here today. Pearl became a fixture at the boys’ special needs school, New Beginnings, and later at the over-21 day-program New Beginnings for Tomorrow (NB4T), fiercely fundraising so that all of the special-needs clients there had what they needed. A founding member of the Kearny Chapter of the Ladies of UNICO, Pearl and her fellow members made yearly donations to NB4T, and she also gave generously herself.

Pearl was always volunteering: Librarian at Holy Cross School, long-time officer of the Kearny Chapter ofUnico National, Choir and Vincentian Society member at Holy Cross Church, and NB4T fundraiser. If you needed someone to pitch-in, you could always count on Pearl. For her efforts, Pearl was honored by the Hudson County Freeholders as Senior Citizen of the Year for 2019.

Pearl’s home in Harrison was always “open” to everyone. Over the years, countless family and friends “crashed” at Warren Street, and they received a warm welcome and a hot homemade meal. Pearl was always there for everyone, and no one was turned away--her generosity was boundless.

Pearl was recently blessed with four great-grandchildren, and there is one more on the way! Her latest great-granddaughter, Stella Pearl, was named after her, and she was deeply honored.

Due to some health issues after the Covid-19 pandemic, Pearl moved in with Anne-Marie and Paul so that they could care for her. The reality is that Pearl took care of all of us in more ways than she knew. Days before she passed, Pearl took a two-day in-person course and was also taking on-line CPR, First Aid, and other classes to continue to help with the boys, and she aced them all. While Pearl never had the chance to attend college, in many ways she was smarter than us all.

Pearl was the seamstress that kept the entire family woven together and connected the generations, and she could never be replaced. She was one of kind, and her absence will be deeply felt for years.

Grandma Pearl was predeceased by her loving husband Chet (2006) and her dear sister, Theresa Sterowski.  She is survived by her adoring children Dr. Michael Yaszemski and his wife Karen, Eric Yaszemski and his wife Susan, Anne-Marie Zarbetski and her husband Paul, “adopted” son Stephen Reitberger, her cherished grandchildren Air Force Major Andrew Yaszemski and his wife Kristilee, Erica O’Toole and her husband Drew, Alexandra Yaszemski, Stephanie Yaszemski-Katz and her husband Stephen, Paul and John Zarbetski, Averi Surak and her husband Jonathan, her beloved great-grandchildren Lilliana, Eric, Lucca and Stella Pearl, her dear sister Thelma Ozgo and her husband Tom, her long-time friend Irene Zarbetski, and many nieces and nephews, many of whom reside in Italy.

In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to Pearl’s charity of choice, New Beginnings for Tomorrow (NB4T)--nb4t.org.

God Bless you Grandma Pearl! You will be missed.

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