Paul J. Amrod

Paul Joseph Amrod 92, passed away at the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center June 24, 2019, surrounded by friends, family, and his wife of fifty-three years, Jennifer. Paul was the tenth of eleven children born to Ablen and Mary Amrod in Saugerties, NY.

He grew up helping his family run a small clothing store and enthusiastically participating in team sports, especially basketball, and baseball playing his favorite position as catcher. Paul enlisted in the Army shortly after his 17th birthday and served with distinction during WW2 participating in the Okinawa Invasion, and the US occupation of the Korean Peninsula after the Japanese surrender. When the peace came, he immediately joined the Regimental softball team as a catcher. After his discharge, Paul had a chance to play minor league baseball, which was a hard choice. Taking his father’s advice, he accepted the newly created GI Bill to study physical education, which began a five-decade career in education.

After graduating from SUNY Cortland, Paul accepted a Phys-Ed teaching position at Chateauguay, NY, in the fall of 1950. Over multiple summers, he attended St. Lawrence University and was awarded an MA in Guidance Counseling in 1957. In addition to teaching Phys-Ed classes, Paul’s duties soon included guidance counseling. In 1960 he decided to leave the North Country and return to the Hudson Valley, taking a full-time guidance position in Spring Valley. In 1962 he was promoted to Chairman of the senior high’s Guidance Department. Paul was instrumental in helping to develop student internships for credit with local employers and establishing a Vocational Tech (BOCES) Program in Rockland County. He always encouraged his students towards higher goals and led by example, completing his Doctor of Education in 1977 at Nova University. Later he established a successful countywide college fair where the fees collected from the various colleges were used to fund scholarships for local students. In his honor, the East Ramapo School District created the Paul Amrod Career Center.

In 1987, Paul retired from Spring Valley and accepted the Director of Pupil Personnel at Ft. Lee, NJ where he stayed until 1999 when he and his wife left the bleak winters of the northeast for the Sunshine State. In retirement, he pursued his interest in selling real estate and enjoyed playing blackjack. Sports played a significant role throughout Paul’s life. He was a lifelong Yankees fan and regularly attended minor league and spring training games near his home in Florida.

Dr. Amrod’s survivors include wife, Jennifer; her sons, Roy and Alan; five children from his previous marriage, Paul, William, Catharine, James, and David; as well as many grand and great-grandchildren.

His son Robert preceded him in 1999.

Donations in his name at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are welcome.

From his humble beginnings as a storekeepers son to the beaches of Okinawa through his five-decade career in public education, helping countless students, Paul was and always will be an exemplary member of the Greatest Generation!