Chris Pendergast, who passed away last week after a long battle with ALS, was honored Sunday during his wake.

Family and friends gathered at OB Davis Funeral home in Miller Place to remember Pendergast, who fought ALS for 30 years and made it his mission to find a cure for the disease.

Pendergast passed away Wednesday at the age of 71. He was diagnosed with ALS in 1993.

Before his diagnosis, he was a science teacher at Dickinson Avenue Middle School in East Northport. After he learned he had the incurable disease, he started ALS Ride for Life - which is a wheelchair ride from Yankee Stadium, the home of Lou Gehrig, to Washington, D.C.

He then brought it to Long Island with a ride from Montauk to Manhattan.

People who work for the nonprofit say that they'll continue the work Pendergast started in finding a cure for ALS.

He has raised more than $10 million for ALS research since he started ALS Ride for Life in 1997.

A funeral for Pendergast is being held Monday at 10 a.m. at the St. Louis De Montfort Church in Sound Beach.