As the days that would have marked his first college classes and cross-country practices approach, 18-year-old Gabriel Pacione's friends, family members and mentors still grapple with the loss of an individual who inspired many in his community through his dedication to his friends, passion to succeed, and athletic talent.
Gabe, as Pacione was known, died in an automobile accident in his hometown of Wenham, Mass., Aug. 10, just over a month before he was due to begin Dartmouth as a member of the Class of 2012. Pacione's BMW 325i crashed into a tree. Passenger and friend Marcus Hanna was injured in the accident.
Hanna, 18, who was treated at a local hospital following the collision, recalled Pacione's leadership skills and sense of camaraderie.
"Thinking back, Gabe was always sort of the head-man of our group [of friends]," Hanna said. "We always looked up to him. Everyone just liked being around him because he was so fun. He was so energetic and full of spirit."
Adrienne Belleau, a childhood friend and cross-country teammate, spoke of Pacione's sportsmanship and quirky fashion sense. Gabe, Belleau said, was friendly to his competitors, and after finishing a race would often turn back to encourage his teammates. He added that Pacione was well known among his friends and teammates for sporting vibrant neon-colored apparel.
"There was not a day where you would see Gabe Pacione and he wouldn't be wearing his multicolored pink, orange and green jacket," Belleau said. "And who can forget the short shorts? You would see more of Gabe's thighs than most of the girls on the track team."
Pacione graduated in June from Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School in Hamilton, Mass., where he boasted an impressive athletic record. He was a captain of both the cross-country and track-and-field teams at Hamilton-Wenham. He was awarded early admission to Dartmouth and had been recruited to the College's cross-country and track and field teams.
"Gabe was very talented in high school," Barry Harwick '77, head coach of Dartmouth's cross-country and track and field teams, said. "He won his division of the Massachusetts state cross-country meet during both his junior and senior years. He had great potential for college."
Harwick, members of Dartmouth's cross country and track and field teams, and Aquinas House chaplain Michael McCormack attended Pacione's wake at St. Paul's Church in Hamilton, Mass. The eight-hour service drew thousands of mourners.
Among those who attended were the teachers, coaches, friends and family members whose influence Pacione wrote about in his application essay to Dartmouth, his father Jeffrey Pacione said.
"He was really excited about coming to Dartmouth," Jeffrey Pacione said. "For Gabe, it was a dream come true. He really loved the sense of community [at Dartmouth]. Gabe was a real 'people-person.' He loved to make friends from different backgrounds and communities."
Pacione, who was named the Boston Globe All-Scholastic Runner of the Year in 2006 and 2007, was also known for his academic achievement, his father said.
"This summer I asked him if he was ready to run on a college team and he told me, 'What I really want to do is to tuck into the academics,'" Jeffrey Pacione said. "He went up [to Dartmouth] and sat in on a couple of classes and fell in love with the place. The people in a room, who seemed to be the smartest in the world, were just having a really smart discussion."
He added that his son had been undecided about what he wanted to study at Dartmouth, but was talented in arts and writing and had expressed interest in entrepreneurship, business and technology.
The Pacione family has set up the Gabriel Pacione Memorial Scholarship Fund in Gabe's honor and intends to award two annual scholarships--one to a student at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School and another to a cross-country runner in the Cape Ann athletics league.
Pacione's friends also memorialized him on the running paths he had frequented. In August, community members organized a ceremony, lighting 1,000 candles along his high school's track. Steve Sawyer, Gabe's mentor and high school coach, also gathered hundreds of people to run along one of Pacione's favorite cross-country race routes.
"We have to take a piece of his spirit and his attitude toward life and try to make the program better from it," Sawyer told his team at the beginning of this school year.
Participants wore pink t-shirts, Gabe's favorite color. Printed on the back of the shirt was a quote Gabe had said upon winning the New England All-States cross-country championship last year:
"I broke away and didn't look back. You can't think twice about it or go halfway. Once you do it, you have to go all the way."
