A young stabbing victim in the Keys is remembered for his kindness, service, intelligence
The parking lot at the Allen-Beyer Funeral Home in Key Largo filled up quickly.
More than 100 people stopped by Tuesday afternoon to pay their respects to Pascal-Rene Zue Weisberger, who was killed in a knife attack earlier this month. He was 14.
In his short life, Pascal left a deep impression in the Keys, remembered for his kindness, intelligence, devotion to service, his passion for environmental causes and his love of animals. He volunteered countless hours at the local animal shelter, so many so that the Key Largo SPCA named its lobby in his honor this month.
Diagnosed with being on the autism spectrum early in preschool, he had difficulties communicating and socializing as a young child. But with the help of programs, family, friends, and most importantly, his determination, that changed as he grew older.
“He went from having trouble talking to making speeches, from being timid to being an adventurer, from being afraid to put his face in the water to being a snorkeler, from playing by himself to having many, many cherished friendships,” his family wrote in a program handed out at his viewing.
His school, Treasure Village Montessori, initiated a day of service in his memory this month called “Pascal’s Way.”
Police say Pascal’s older brother Daniel Weisberger is responsible for his death. Prosecutors are still deciding whether to charge the 17-year-old as an adult or minor.
Ariel Poholek, 43, the boys’ single father, was also stabbed the morning of May 7 inside their townhome at the Executive Bay Club, and his wounds were so severe that police initially weren’t sure if he’d survive.
Daniel Weisberger is still in a Miami hospital under guard recovering from being hit by a pickup truck after running out into traffic on U.S. 1 the same day of the attack. For hours, he had eluded a massive police dragnet. Detectives think he was trying to end his life.
THE KEYS COMMUNITY
The gravity of the tragedy continues to be felt in the Keys, where such violent crime is rare, and the victims and alleged perpetrator are so well-known.
Poholek is a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Fisheries Service. Since the attack, both scientists and fishermen have spoken of his dedication to both the fishing industry and conservation.
Poholek has since been released from the hospital, and is up and about, despite investigators’ initial predictions.
He was at the viewing Tuesday, standing by his son’s open casket, greeting and comforting mourners as they lined up to pay their respects.
IN UNIFORM
Both father and son were dressed in their Boy Scout uniforms. Poholek was scout master of the troop in which both his boys were members. Though in his early teen, Pascal could easily pass for a much younger child.
Several scouts spoke at the service, commenting on Pascal’s intelligence and friendship.
Poholek also spoke at the funeral later in the day, which was broadcast on Facebook Live, recalling the day Pascal was born and his continued love for both of his sons.
“I remember looking down at him minutes after he was born and holding his hand in the hospital and looking at his eyes, and he’s looking up at me, and I just thought, there couldn’t be anything in the world that I could love more than this little boy. And, I saw in him the whole universe in his eyes,” Poholek said.
The family moved to the Keys in 2011 from Martin County following a difficult divorce in 2006 that included accusations of abuse at the hands of the boys’ mother and court battles that continued right up to the stabbings.
Family and friends say those events left both boys traumatized and contributed to Daniel spiraling into a life of crime and delinquency in recent years. Poholek received custody of the boys in 2008.
THE FUNERAL
At the funeral, he spoke of his oldest son as if he were talking about two different people, saying Daniel “was also an amazing and a unique person, and despite what happened, I know Daniel is the best person he could be under the circumstances.”
“We, as a family of three, have helped each other from the beginning,” Poholek said. “Our family of three loved each other dearly.”
The boys’ mother, Joceline Nguema, was at the funeral and her pastor spoke at the service, said Poholek’s brother, Zachary James. He said there was no conflict. Nguema could not be reached for comment, and her attorney has not returned emailed and telephone requests for comment.
James, a professional actor from Philadelphia, has been in South Florida supporting his brother, and their mother, Carole Pholek, since Pascal’s death. He was close with both boys and described Pascal as “a wise owl behind those deep, dark eyes. And, he had the biggest heart, and I think everyone would agree.”
James told of one time he was driving a long distance and called his brother because he was having trouble staying awake. Pascal got on the phone and proceeded to read a book to him for the next two hours.
“I never knew if he was reciting the book or reading it to me,” James said. “It was hard to tell.”
In his brief time in the Keys, James said he has been touched by the support the family is receiving from the community, and he said it’s telling of how many people were affected by Pascal.
“I live by a rule in my life that if three people say something, you have to think there is some degree of truth to it,” he said. “And, to see the outpouring of love and support, and the hundreds, and I would say thousands, because I think it’s true, or people who’ve come out and said what a special, special young man he was, you know that it’s true. Because so many people said it.”
Poholek said Pascal was blessed to have so many friends who cared about him.
“And, that helped him be the best person he was and still is in our hearts,” he said.
Rabbi Richard Agler, whose daughter was killed in 2012 when a van hit her while jogging in Washington, D.C., presided over the funeral. Referencing a 1946 book written by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, Agler said our purpose, no matter what happens in life, is to try to make the world a better place while we’re living in it.
“Anything can be taken from us, except our choice in how we are going to respond to it. That cannot be taken from us. No matter what happens, if we are still alive, and we can still live and breathe, and we can still function, we have the ability to choose how we are going to respond to whatever it might be,” Agler said. “And, that’s how we deal with an often cruel and unjust word.”
“Tragedies happen, and this is one of them,” he said. “Almost out of the blue, things we would never expect, even when we do everything right. We never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, or later today.”
AT THE SCHOOL
About 15 miles south of the funeral home, a memorial consisting of messages, flowers, stuffed animals and other items is displayed in front of Treasure Village Montessori School.
On Tuesday, Ginny Oshaben and her daughter Jackie stopped to place a lei of frangipani flowers there.
Jackie Oshaben, 19, is older than Pascal, but also once attended Treasure Village as a child. Ginny Oshaben was Pascal’s first-grade teacher at nearby Ocean Studies Charter School in Tavernier.
She recalled the day he recited for a project on every president of the United States. He was dressed as then-President Barack Obama.
“When he was done, he said, ‘I’m Barack Hussein Obama.’ Everyone cheered,” she said.
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 5:17 PM.
