Albert P. Pask, 78, a Chicago accountant who changed careers to become a gardener, died Friday, Feb. 15, in Windsor Manor Nursing Home, Palos Hills, after a three-year battle with prostate cancer. Mr. Pask was raised in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood, where his father, a Lithuanian immigrant, was a painter and decorator. Mr. Pask went to Northwestern University to earn his accounting degree before serving in the Army during World War II. He later earned a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Chicago and worked for a variety of companies, including Arthur Andersen & Co. and Marquette Boat and Rivet. In 1960 Mr. Pask started a landscaping business with a friend. “When he was a little kid, my mom would get mad at him for going out and playing in the flower beds and picking the flowers,” said his sister, Lorie Unites. The business failed, and after teaching accounting in Chicago public schools, Mr. Pask took a job caring for office plants. He later attended the University of Illinois and earned a master gardener certificate. “He was in his glory” working with plants, his sister said. “He wasn’t making any money in it, but he was happy.” Survivors include nephews David Unites, Phillip Butkus and Joseph Butkus, and nieces Carol Walz, Rita Schultz, Linda Chovanec and Patricia Drobny. Services will be private.
