Frank Pasquerilla Helped Change Retail in America
By Joseph “Sonny” Scafetta, Jr.
Frank James Pasquerilla was born on September 4, 1926, in Johnstown, Pa., to Enrico Pasquerilla and his wife, Sabina D'Alfonso, who had emigrated from the city of Campobasso (population: 47,449 in the 2024 Census) in the province of the same name in the region of the Abruzzi, now Molise. After he graduated from the local public high school in 1944, he started work as a depot manager in Philadelphia. In the evenings, he studied business courses through the International Corresponding School. In 1946, he moved to Holidaysburg, Penna., to become an inspector for the state highway dept. He stayed there for the next four years.
When Frank completed his business courses by correspondence in 1950, he returned to Johnstown where he went to work for a small masonry contracting firm named the Crown Construction Co. in 1951. Two years later, his talents were recognized when he was promoted to president at age 27. He pioneered malls when he started building his first shopping center in suburban Johnstown later in 1953.
In 1956, the company changed its name to the Crown American Realty Trust Co. In 1961, he bought the company at age 35. He then married Sylvia with whom he had two children. The company built its first enclosed shopping mall in 1963 in Altoona, Pa. In 1969, St. Francis College in Loretto, Penna., conferred upon him an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.
Eventually, the company owned and operated 27 regional malls in eight states, including the Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick, Maryland. The University of Notre Dame conferred an Honorary Doctor of Law degree upon him in 1982. He then began making philanthropic efforts. After he made an $8 million donation to Georgetown University Medical Center, Pope John Paul II admitted him into the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1984. Another multi-million dollar donation was made to build the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center on the University of Pittsburgh branch campus in Johnstown.
He stepped up to become chairman of the board of the company at age 62 and expanded the company into the hotel business in 1988, starting with the Holiday Inn Express in Johnstown. In 1990, he received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The company then split into two, spinning off the hotel business into Crown American Hotels in 1993. He died suddenly at age 72 in his home in Johnstown on April 21, 1999. His funeral was held three days later in St. John's Catherdral in Johnstown.
Sources (all accessed June 16, 2025)
https://prabook.com/web/frank_james.pasquerilla/56829
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campobasso
The Frederick News-Post, Frederick, Maryland, April 23, 1999
Fall 2025