Pelham, Howard Edgar Paul of Amherst and Pelham died unexpectedly on the morning of March 16, 2015. He was 82 years old. Howard was born on October 24, 1932 in Hyde Park, New York, the youngest of three boys of Albert Edwin Paul and Mary Maxwell Paul (Edgar). He was married for 58 years to Nancy Ann Paul (Budd) of Poughkeepsie, New York.

He attended schools in Hyde Park, graduated from Farmingdale State College in Long Island, New York with a degree in construction engineering and served with the US Army in Germany from 1954-1956. Howard and Nancy married in 1956 and he went to work for Turner Construction, one of the major American contracting companies of that time. He rose through the ranks supervising projects in many northeastern states, including the Smith College Library in Northampton and work on the Mass Mutual campus in Springfield. The difficult balance of career and family and the strains of inevitable job related moving led Howard and Nancy and their five children to seek a more permanent location. In 1967 Howard was hired to oversee the construction of the campus of Hampshire College in South Amherst, Massachusetts. Upon completion of the initial build out in 1970 he was asked to stay on as Physical Plant Director for the school, a position he held, until retirement, for 26 years. Overseeing the physical development of the college, a campus built from scratch in turbulent years, was challenging, stressful and sometimes hilarious. It changed him in ways he would never have imagined. It was his proudest accomplishment.

Howard is survived by his beloved wife Nancy, his brother Kenneth, his children Howard R. (Randy) Paul of Amherst; Robbin Suprenant and her husband James of Amherst; Alane Castro Paul and her husband Eric Castro of San Leandro, California; Lawrence B. Paul and his wife Chiyo Kobayashi of Bethesda, Maryland; and Scott A. Paul and his wife Allison Smiley of Anacortes, Washington. He is also survived by his ten grandchildren Alejandra Castro Petmezis and Lucas Castro Paul; Michael Suprenant and Kimberly Suprenant; Maia, Casey, Tyler and Cody Paul; Emma and Benjamin Paul; and three great grandchildren Emily Suprenant and Maximus and Cecilia Petmezis. He was predeceased by his brother Stanley and his daughter-in-law Brooke Darden.

Howard loved the outdoors and he loved his dogs. He was a hunter and he taught five children to ski. He once owned a sailboat and there is still evidence that he drove, briefly, a bright red MG convertible.  Howard was most content when he and Nancy and part or all of the family were at “The Camp”, their summer house, and his never ending project, in Whitingham, Vermont.

Howard was a man who spent countless hours as a coach and instructor of children and a mentor to and leader of adults. He coached youth baseball in Amherst for many years and was a president of the Amherst Hockey Association in its early and formative stages.  He was a man of strong opinions and irrefutable values. He was proud, diligent and demanding; compassionate, stubborn and generous. He was also, in many ways, an uncomplicated man who, in the end, would be pleased to hear that he gave, asked for and expected little more than an honest effort in all endeavors.

Years after his own children had moved on from Little League baseball, he would get the occasional call at his home in North Amherst. Was he available, on an hour’s notice, to umpire a game at the field out back? Of course he was. And he would call them as he saw them, loud and clear, balls or strikes.

Calling hours will be held at Douglass Funeral Home in Amherst on Sunday March 22, 2015 from 2-5 PM. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Amherst Youth Baseball programs –P.O. Box 3051, Amherst, Ma. 01002. Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com

Service details, Social networking, Memorial Guestbook and Slideshow are available here.