Paul David Addis, 70, of Haverford, Pennsylvania, formerly of Ridgefield, Connecticut and Columbus, Ohio, died on Sunday, March 31, 2024.  He was the devoted and beloved husband for 44 and ¾ years to Kathy, with whom he fell in love at first sight at the age of 24.  For the rest of his life, he told everyone the story of how they met:  He saw her across the cafeteria at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, holding her coffee cup "decisively," feet turned out in a "striking" pose—"it was a thunderbolt."  He proposed two weeks later.  She told him he was "crazy," then accepted four weeks after that.  He loved her "with an intensity that never waned" and expressed it every day.  He was deeply devoted to their four children, Vickie, Mike, Claire, and Bobby, who cherish him.

Paul grew up in Westbury, New York.  He graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and earned Master's degrees in Public Health and History from the University of Minnesota and the University of Maryland, respectively.  He enlisted in the United States Coast Guard Reserve during his freshman year of college and was honorably discharged.  He then joined the United States Naval Reserve, serving for ten additional years.

In a thirty-year business career, Paul built companies and defined more than one industry.  He began as a junior trader of agricultural commodities at Louis Dreyfus Corporation in Kansas City, Kansas, and later Stamford and Wilton, Connecticut.  With no business training, he shocked his bosses by conceiving of arbitrage trades with the federal government that within days became the core strategy for a 130-year-old company.  His focus then shifted to the newly deregulated electricity market, where he created an industry by conceiving of and negotiating the country's first electricity trade.  Just four years later, he orchestrated the sale of the company he created, Louis Dreyfus Electric Power, to Duke Power.  He next served as the Executive Vice President of American Electric Power and President of AEP Energy Services in Columbus, Ohio.  He was hired to build AEP's then nonexistent United States and international energy trading and marketing businesses.  Within six years, Paul was also managing operations and engineering of AEP's regulated power plants, coal mines, rail and barge fleets, natural gas pipelines, processing and storage facilities, and over 5,500 employees.  He finished his business career back in Connecticut as the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman of Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy. He was a leader who recognized the importance of being involved with employees at all levels.

Paul was deeply and proactively engaged in world events.  He developed his passionate views through relentless reading.  Every day of his entire adult life, he read The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and (upon moving to Haverford, Pennsylvania) The Philadelphia Inquirer, cover-to-cover.  He read and marked up thousands of books—fiction, history, biography, politics—which he then shared with family and friends in the hopes of prompting thoughtful discussions:  Greatness, honor, courage, love of country and so many more virtues were his guiding principles.  He spoke about them every day, always deliberating on what it means to lead a moral life.

Paul was motivated by his ideas, but his actions defined him.  His code was always to do the right thing.  As a young man, he advocated for programs and funds for the Cambodian humanitarian crisis.  During the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan, he worked to find homes and jobs for refugee families; upon learning of Paul's death, one of the people he helped commented, "he was the kindest person I have ever met in my life."  The recent wars in Ukraine and Israel distressed him, and he thought and wrote and debated constantly about ways to galvanize action. Paul was passionate about democracy.  Kindness and decency to others are the human qualities he admired most.  He rescued friends and literally saved lives.  He would help anyone on acquaintance, changing the course of so many people's lives.  It was never about recognition; often only Kathy knew.  Paul was willing to stand alone in his attempt to tilt the world for the better.  He lived his belief that every worthy life should be built on dreams and ambition linked with a passion to lead a moral life.

Paul will forever be loved and mourned by his wife, Kathryn; his four children, Victoria Marie, Michael Paul, Claire Elizabeth, and Robert Edward Henry; his children-in-law, David Targan, Clare Bush Addis, and Francesca Carini Addis; his grandchildren, Michael Paul, Jr., Charlotte Rosemarie, and Luke Michael Alphonsus; his sisters, Joan Gordon and Deborah Madison; his siblings-in-law, Ronald Madison, Edward and Patricia Meyer, Christine Meyer, and Thomas and Melinda Meyer; his nieces and nephews; and close friends.  He was adored by his predeceased parents, Henry and Bernice Addis, whom he cherished; he was loved dearly by his predeceased parents-in-law, Rosemarie Meyer Hann and Edward Meyer, whom he loved and admired.

For all his accomplishments, Paul was proudest of his family.  He understood each of his children and was unique in his drive to ensure they would lead happy, fulfilled lives no matter what that demanded of him, providing unconditional loyalty and love.  In his words at his 70th birthday celebration:  "Every day, I marvel at God's goodness as He put Kathy, the love of my life, in my path."  Kathy, too, heard the voice of God 46 years ago and said "yes" to her best friend and soul mate.  They fit.

Relatives and friends are invited Saturday, April 6, 2024, for funeral services beginning with a visitation at 11:00 A.M. and a service at 12:00 P.M. at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, on the Villanova University campus, 800 East Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085.  Flowers may be sent to the Church to be delivered Saturday by 9:00 A.M.

Memorial donations may be made in Paul's name to the Anti-Defamation League .