Our beloved Paul handed away peacefully, together with his household by his facet, on the morning of August 24, 2023, at 93. He was born February 2, 1930, in Manhattan, to John Henry Meyer and Mildred M. (Heins) Meyer and was raised in Yonkers.
Paul attended Dartmouth School, incomes his undergraduate diploma in 1951 and an MS in engineering and enterprise in 1952. Whereas at Dartmouth, he was awarded the Churchill Prize for excellent educational achievement and citizenship. He found his love of the outside and snowboarding with the Dartmouth Outing Membership, the place he shaped lifelong friendships. In 1952, he accepted a direct fee as a second lieutenant within the U.S. Air Pressure and was stationed in Japan. Whereas in Japan, he made positive to climb Mt. Fuji.
Upon his return to america, he labored as an engineer at Eastman Kodak. He left Kodak to attend Columbia College the place he earned a PhD in arithmetic. Paul felt, “You don’t select arithmetic, arithmetic chooses you.” Arithmetic remained necessary all through Paul’s life.
Upon commencement from Columbia in 1964, Paul began as a professor of arithmetic at Hunter School and later moved to Lehman School, New York Metropolis. He remained at Lehman School till his retirement in 1999. Whereas at Lehman, he had visiting appointments on the College of Texas, Austin; the College of London; the College of Padua, Italy; the Indian Institute of Expertise in Kanpur, India; and the College of Mexico, the place he mixed his love of birding with arithmetic. Over the course of his profession, Paul revealed 25 mathematical journal articles in topology.
Paul met Mary Ruth Hazelden whereas working at Kodak, and so they married in 1955, initially residing in New York Metropolis after which shifting to Yonkers. Collectively, they raised 4 youngsters: Lisa Meyer (Jeffrey Hughes) of Shelburne, Vt.; Gretchen Meyer (Raymond F. Gates III) of Cedarburg, Wis.; Peter Meyer (Bonnie Meyer) of College Place, Wash.; and Kristen Stroud (George Stroud) of Mt. Shasta, Calif. Paul generously shared together with his household his ardour for nature, mountaineering, snowboarding, tenting, canoeing and birding in parks and pure areas throughout america.
Paul and Mary separated amicably in 1978. Paul met his second spouse, Susan Roney Drennan, whereas volunteering for the American Museum of Pure Historical past’s tern challenge on Nice Gull Island, and so they married in 1997. After Paul’s retirement, they moved to Middlebury, Vt. Then, Paul and Susan explored the world whereas main Nationwide Audubon nature cruises.
Paul reliably shared appropriate quotes from Shakespeare, Robert Frost, Thoreau, Charles Darwin and others to reinforce any second or occasion. His information of and curiosity in science, literature, present occasions, historical past, physics and quite a few different topics was unbounded. He was particularly obsessed with birds and the pure world. He was well-known for his “life hen dance.”
Paul cared deeply about his household and is survived by his 4 youngsters and 7 grandchildren: Sam Hughes and Julia Richter (Dennis Richter), Sonya Meyer (Nick Schaffer), Naomi Meyer and Monica Meyer (Luke McConnell), and Weston and Owen Stroud; and his great-grandson, Pepin Schaffer. He’s additionally survived by his spouse Susan and her two youngsters: Matthew Drennan of Bar Harbor, Maine, and Maureen Drennan (Paul Gagner) of New York, N.Y., and Susan’s two grandchildren, Grace and Ava Drennan. Additionally surviving are three nephews and one niece. He was predeceased by his sister Norma, his brother Kenneth, and his first spouse, Mary.
Paul’s household needs to increase their gratitude to the supportive and caring workers on the Residence at Otter Creek who introduced a lot pleasure to Paul. As well as, the household needs to thank Deb Wilkinson and Lori Cyr of Taking Care of You for his or her excellent service and Addison County Dwelling Well being and Hospice, particularly, Stephanie Stoddard, his hospice nurse, for the compassionate care and assist that they supplied to Paul.
As Paul (and Robert Frost) would say:
“Ah, when to the guts of a person
Was it ever lower than a treason
To go together with the drift of issues,
To yield with a grace to purpose,
And bow and settle for the top
Of a love or a season?”
In lieu of flowers, donations could also be made to the Vermont Land Belief, native meals banks and wildlife conservation organizations.
Preparations are underneath the path of Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral Dwelling. On-line condolences at sandersonfuneralservice.com.
