Paul M. White

After so many years perusing the New Haven Register’s obituary and proclaiming, “it’s a good day when you don’t see your name listed”, the time has come for Paul White to finally find his name on The List.  Our beloved father, father-in-law, grandfather (PopPop), uncle, friend, and sudden acquaintance if you happened to be anywhere in public when Paul White was around, passed in a most peaceful way on April 23rd.  He was doing what he loved most, watching NHL hockey on the TV.  For someone that was involved with the “best sport there is” nearly his entire life, including having friends that played on the 1960 USA men’s hockey gold medalist squad, there was no better way to hear that final whistle. 

He was predeceased by his parents, the shadowy Edward Lucien….White? and the stoic Katherine (Heaphy), his sisters Catherine (Rowland), Edwina “Winnie” (Beyer), and his brother Edward.  Paul would tell literally anyone that he was born on Friday the 13th, March of 1936 and that it was all downhill from there, which belied the fact he had a wonderful life. 

Paul graduated from Hamden High School in 1954 and promptly enlisted in the US Navy, where he spent four years serving his country and the next sixty-plus years proudly regaling anyone, anywhere, anytime about his exploits while aboard the USS Northampton.  After an honorable discharge as a Korean War veteran and having seen most of the world, he found the love of his life right back where he grew up.  Paul met Theresa Courtney shortly after returning to land, never looked back at the sea again, and they were married in 1961.  They lived their entire married lives in the same house in North Branford and raised three of the most perfectly adequate White Boys ever.  She passed in 2012 and Paul spent the past twelve years alternating between Navy stories and tales of his love for “Terri”, over and over again to anyone, anywhere, anytime he could capture someone’s attention. Paul held a variety of jobs that defied any semblance of a career path, starting with making ice cream at a commercial facility in North Haven to not really selling life insurance to trying to sell meat products and, rather successfully, selling trophies for a brief stint.  He finally heard the siren call of the US Postal Service in 1980 and worked there until his retirement.  If you received junk mail during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, well now you know who to thank. 

He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law: Courtney and Meg (Sullivan), Kevin and Gretchen (Schwanfelder) , and Edward and Kristen (Mahoney).  Paul was blessed to have nine grandchildren (Erica, Kyle, Dylan, Nicolas, Aubrey, Maeve, Cameron, Marley, and Finneas) and, thanks to PopPop, all know that our weather is a mess these days because we decided to put men on the moon.  But the most important thing he ever taught his sons and his grandchildren was the importance of being yourself, while being kind to others, even if you are invading their personal space at the checkout line in Big Y.  Our world will be lacking some of that personal touch now that Paul is no longer there to gently prod a stranger’s elbow to help with their groceries or to tell them how beautiful their children are. 

Services will be held at Keenan Funeral Home, 330 Notch Hill Road, North Branford, CT from 5 to 7 PM on Thursday, May 2nd and at 11 AM on Friday, May 3rd, followed by a ceremony at All Saints Cemetery, 700 Middletown Ave., North Haven, CT.  A reception for immediate family, relatives, and close friends will be held afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Paul’s name to a veteran’s charity and please practice random acts of kindness, whenever possible, in his memory.

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