On Monday, Oct. 13th, Pasadena Police say Chefs Center general manager Lawrence Bressler and his wife, Denise, were found stabbed in their apartment in Pasadena. They died from the injuries, which were allegedly inflicted by the chef’s cousin. Bressler was a local culinary mentor.
In light of the tragedy, Chefs Center Campus President, Michael Giacomini, released the following letter to its students:
Students,
I’m deeply saddened to report that Chef Instructor Larry Bressler and his wife, Denise, were stabbed in their Pasadena apartment early this morning. Neither survived. News reports quote police officials as saying a family member was arrested near the scene.
Chef Bressler was a longtime instructor and friend to many of us here at Le Cordon Bleu. Since first teaching here 11 years ago, he quickly became known as a kind, fun-loving person with as much passion and zest for music as he had for food. Before teaching Catering and Buffets, Contemporary Cuisine and other courses here at Le Cordon Bleu, Chef Bressler owned and operated a French restaurant.
He also served as Director of Operations for the nonprofit Chefs Center of America here in Pasadena, which helps entrepreneurs of food-based businesses become established.
This certainly comes as a terrible shock to each of us here. Tragedies like this can be difficult to comprehend. For those who may feel the need to talk to someone about this situation, we will be providing counseling resources on campus tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
I will send more information as we have those details. Feel free to stop by my office at any time or speak with a friend or colleague.
I will also share information on memorial services for both Chef Larry and Denise as they become available. We will certainly be discussing how to remember him here on campus, as well.
Given the limited information available thus far, I want to make clear that we have no reason to believe we should be concerned about subsequent, related violence at our campus. This appears to be a tragic family incident.
Times like these can bring a community even closer together. I have no doubt that will be the case here at Le Cordon Bleu.
Featured image from Morguefile.com.