In the Pipeline:

I know it’s since been reported, but still, I wanted to cover a recent episode in this column, because the man involved is so deserving.

Last week, I received this note:

“Hi Chris, I regret to have to inform you that we lost Dr. Joel Pasco to cancer. He passed away Saturday morning in his sleep. He had gone fishing at Convict Lake (his favorite spot and favorite pastime). When his friends tried to wake him, they realized that he had passed peacefully in his sleep. We lost a dear friend, colleague and animal activist. I am too sad for more words . . . ”

Debbie McGuire, Wildlife Director

Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center

What shocking news. Joel was just 62 years old, and was one of the founding fathers of the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center here in Huntington Beach. He was loved and respected by all who knew him due to both his stellar professional reputation and his compassionate nature.

Joel’s wife, Jean, shared this: “Joel Pasco never met an animal he didn’t like. Even as a boy growing up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Joel couldn’t stomach the idea of harming an animal. So it was destiny that he’d become a veterinarian, with a special affinity for treating wildlife.

“He was surrounded by wildlife on the final day of his life. He was grateful that he’d been feeling well enough to take another trip to the Sierras to fish with his good friend, Cris Hagen. Battling esophageal cancer, diagnosed in late 2006, had taken a lot out of Joel, but he continued working a couple days a week at the animal hospital he founded — All Creatures Care Cottage in Costa Mesa — and volunteering his veterinary services at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, which he also helped build.”

Lisa Birkle at the Care Center told me, “So many people have come in commenting on his high regard for animals, but it needs to be remembered that it was just as high for people. Many times he picked me up off the floor when no one else was around, and showed me the positive side of life.”