Paul W. Moran ’47 died on June 21, 2017, in Camden, Maine.

(The following was published in the Village Soup on June 29, 2017:)

ROCKLAND – Retired third generation insurance agency owner, Navy veteran, family man, animal lover, Paul Wilson Moran died peacefully at home, 63 Washington Street, Camden, after battling cancer for 8 months.

Paul was born in Rockland, Maine on March 17, 1926. “The only day of the year any self-respecting Irishman would be born” as he liked to say. He was the son of E. Carl Moran, born in Rockland, and Irene Gushee Moran, born in Franklin, MA. Paul went to Rockland schools, then also to schools in DC when his father was in Congress, then to have consistent schooling, went to and graduated from Hebron Academy as Salutatorian of the Class of 1943, and from Bowdoin College in 1948.

World War II meant that between his 3rd and 4th semesters at Bowdoin, he served 2 ½ years in the US Navy as a Radioman on a LST ship in the South Pacific. His timing was such that he was in Pearl Harbor at the end of the war, and as Radioman, he got to wake up the rest of the ship to spread the news that the war was over, “and nobody complained!”. He earned medals for Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, China Service, Asia Occupation Service, American Campaign, and World War II victory, but not, as he enjoyed saying, the Good Conduct Medal.

Returning then to college, Paul took pride in continuing to enjoy “all three activities of a well-rounded life”: Scholarship – He was a James Bowdoin Scholar, graduating Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and Honors in his major subject of French; “Athlete”- swimming medals totaling 16 including an AAU New England Intercollegiate Swimming Association Championship, 3rd and 4th in the (Butter)Fly at the 1944 New England Intercollegiate Swimming Association Championship; and “Social Life”; – escorting the Queen of the Ivy Day House party dance.

Paul then joined his father at the E. C. Moran Company, Inc, the family insurance business established in 1896 by his grandfather, becoming President upon the death of his father in 1968 until his 1988 retirement. He was third generation, now a 4th generation insurance agency run by daughter Patricia Moran Wotton.

Paul was a member of Kappa Sigma (now Alpha Kappa Sigma) Fraternity, Professional Insurance Agents Association, American Association of Retired Persons, Life member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks for almost 65 years including holding certain offices, American Legion continuous membership since 1945 when his father joined for him while he was overseas in the US Navy in World War II, in Rockland Post Number 1, (so numbered because his father was a founder of the Post and wrote the bylaws in 1919), being awarded Honorary Life Membership in 2003 for 58 years continuous loyal membership. Paul was a “Ham” radio operator, licensed 1958, and a member of the American Radio Relay League with certificates for talking to all continental regions and over 100 countries, as well as all 50 states. He was thanked by Russia for hearing Sputnik go overhead and reporting what Morse code letter he heard, with a letter and card.

Paul was a lifetime member of the Rockland Congregational Church, possessing at the time of his death, the Bible from Sunday School, there given to him June 3, 1934, joining that church in 1944 at age 18, and teaching Sunday School and “helping out” in various capacities for many years.

A special thank you goes out to the staff and friends at 63 Washington Street in Camden where he spent the last two years of his life in senior living. He had his independence but with the support of people who cared very much for him, treated him like family, and kept him comfortable through his passing. For that we cannot thank you enough.