John Pace, an attorney and real estate developer who was known for his civic involvement and his role in a politically prominent family in Suffolk County, died Sunday after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 80.

Pace was born in the Bronx. After graduating from Fordham University, he attended Brooklyn Law School, where he was a staff member of the Brooklyn Law Review, and graduated in 1958. He married his wife Lorraine in 1961 and settled in West Islip.