Paul James Loughlin

Paul James Loughlin

Spring Hill, FL

Paul James Loughlin, 84, a beloved and remarkable man, passed away peacefully on October 5, 2024, losing the battle with old age.

Paul was born in Worcester, Ma. to the late James Patrick Loughlin and Annette Amy Dubuc. He was the second oldest of six children and a third-generation American. His maternal grandmother was born in Boston of Irish parents, while his other grandparents were French-Canadian, English, and Irish. He would credit his Irish heritage for his looks, humor, virility, love of literature, and skin cancer, and his French heritage for his love of gardening, cooking, wine, art, and women. He voiced no regrets or “do-overs.” He was proud of the life he had led and experiences he’d had. His door was always open; he loved entertaining and maintained life-long, indelible friendships. He is survived by three of his sisters: Mary Gail Hines, Kathleen S. Loughlin, and Sheila J. Loughlin; his children, James P. Loughlin and Christine A. Loughlin; his faithful dog Brady; his nieces, nephews, friends, neighbors and caregivers that meant so much to him.

Paul lived most of his life in three states: Massachusetts, California and Florida. His happiest years were in his 20’s in the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, and as a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he earned his B.S. degree in management and M.S. in labor relations. His treasured experiences later in life included vacationing in Hawaii and Paris, golfing at world-renowned courses, eating at Michelin-rated restaurants, collecting art and watches, and driving luxury and sports cars. An avid sports fan, he rooted for the 49ers when they won their Super Bowl titles, the Patriots when they won theirs, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (after Tom Brady signed on).

Paul’s father was a labor leader in Massachusetts, while Paul’s career was spent on the other side of the collective bargaining table, representing management in their negotiations with labor. Paul started his professional career at Bethlehem Steel Corporation as an Industrial Relations Assistant. Several years later he joined Kraftco-Sealtest Foods as a Personnel Director. He went on to hold positions as the Coordinator of Personnel for the Massachusetts State College system and as the Personnel Director of the San Jose Community College District before entering private consulting.

To have known Paul is to have shared a glass of wine and conversation with him, indulged in a dirty story or two, heard how very proud he was of his kids, looked forward to his annual Christmas letter, and overall, enjoyed his company. He was legally blind for the last decade of his life. He believed in living for the day and he lived to see (and not see) quite a lot of them. The ending of one of his last Christmas letters went like this…“I gave up on the Celtics; played too much golf and didn’t improve; cheated the IRS; pampered my dog; mastered the internet – downloaded some hot stuff; went to bed 365 days and got up 365 days; got along with most people; see you next year.”

In honor of his memory, we encourage you to live his way, larger than life, at least for a day.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 pm on October 26th at 5301 Legend Hills Lane, Brooksville, Fl. In lieu of flowers the family requests that you honor him with a donation to the Lighthouse for the Blind in Brooksville, Florida: Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind (lvib.org)

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