Inducted in 2022
Volunteer Officer, Prep Development & Finance Offices (2003-2016)
Human Resources Executive, Various Industries
Member, Board of Trustees (1994-2000)

As Fordham Prep evolved over the course of the 20th century from a division of the University to a standalone institution unto itself, there were naturally some growing pains at Rose Hill while the Administration slowly sorted it all out.  By the 1950s, for instance, it had been decided that membership in the Fordham Band was reserved for University students only. Unfortunately for the younger instrumentalists on Campus, the Prep, still a dependent department of the College, was not yet in a position to put together an orchestra of its own.

But none of this mattered to Paul Williams, who arrived at Hughes Hall as a freshman in September of 1952.  Although a generally reserved and contemplative young man, Paul was used to marching to the beat of his own drum — and quite literally at that. A naturally-gifted drummer with the drive and discipline to hone his musicianship through long hours of practice, Paul showed up for high school expecting to play. And play he would! No band? No problem. He would just have to make one of his own. And so, the Paul Williams Quartet was born — the offspring of true Maroon ingenuity and sheer adolescent gumption.

Thanks to Paul, for the Prep boys of the mid-1950s, the beat would indeed go on.

Paul Denis Williams was born on October 4, 1938 to Frank Williams, a building superintendent, and Gertrude Van Nostrand Williams, a homemaker who worked part-time at an insurance agency. He grew up in Washington Heights with his two brothers, James and Jack, both older by several years and Cardinal Hayes High School graduates. He attended Incarnation, his local parish grammar school, just a few blocks from home. The Williamses were a devout and generous family, and Frank and Gertrude made many sacrifices along the way to help their boys succeed.

Though undeniably a city boy through and through, Paul was no stranger to country life, having spent many a summer living and working upstate on his Uncle Bob and Aunt Madge’s farm — his parents felt that the country air was far more healthful than the sweltering streets of Manhattan, especially in a time when polio outbreaks were still a real threat. Paul would always credit his summers out on the farm for teaching him to value hard work and to be willing to get his hands dirty to get the job done.

Graduating Incarnation in 1952, Paul would begin his daily train trip across what was then known as the 225th Street Bridge into the Bronx to start at Rose Hill as a member of Mr. Chuck DaParma’s homeroom. Straightaway, the boy from West 171st Street fell in love with every aspect of the Fordham Prep experience, from the idyllic beauty of the Campus, to the academic rigor of the Hughes Hall classrooms — Paul was both a Latin and Greek student — to the friends he would make along the way, friends such as classmate Louis Aidala, with whom Paul would share stories and laughs his whole life.

During his Hughes Hall years, “Willy,” as he was affectionately nicknamed by his pals, ran with the trackmen, tinkered with the Physics Club, and devoted time to the spiritual aspects of Prep life with the Knights of the Blessed Sacrament. And, of course, there was the Paul Williams Quartet: available for dances, as a musical interlude during Dramatic Society productions, and at Prep social events, major and minor. As the stories go, Paul and the boys’ version of “Lisbon Antigua” could give Nelson Riddle a run for his money — to say nothing of their “Rock around the Clock.”

Paul graduated the Prep in June of 1956,  but in the words of his daughter, Pamela, “he could not bear the thought of leaving the Rose Hill Campus and happily matriculated at Fordham University — remaining close to the community he loved so much.” Earning his degree from the University in 1960, Williams would take a position as an underwriter with the Equitable Life Insurance Company a few months later.

In October of 1962, Paul Williams married Phyllis Casolaro, his quick-witted and outgoing childhood sweetheart who had grown up just across the street from his Washington Heights apartment. Naturally, the Maroon-blooded drummer boy from the Class of ‘56 would wed a girl with solid Fordham credentials of her own: Phyllis was a 1961 graduate of the University’s School of Education and would even go on to teach as a member of Fordham’s History Department in the mid-1960s before launching a long and storied career in teaching and school administration with the New York City Board of Education. Paul and Phyllis would raise two daughters, Patreece and Pamela, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. As Patreece would fondly recall, “Dad did it all: coached ponytail softball, timed swim meets in the 100-degree heat, stood in the rain at field hockey and lacrosse games, chaperoned high school dances, and helped us study for too many exams to count.  And most of these things Dad did having just flown in on the red-eye from some important business meeting or intense negotiations — but you would never have known it. He always showed up with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.”

After his stint with Equitable, Williams would go on to earn an MBA from NYU while launching a career in human resources that would span decades and earn him positions at some of the most prominent companies in the country and on the international scene. Starting as a pension consultant with Johnson & Higgins in 1964, Paul would move to General Foods and Phillip Morris, where he was director of benefits during most of the 1970s and ‘80s, and finally to Time Warner, where he would again serve as director of benefits, but also as secretary of the corporation and president of Time Warner Canada through his 2003 retirement.

Throughout his many years in human resources, Paul Williams was not afraid to do things his own way — to march to the beat of his own drum, as it were.  He remained true to his principles always, unwilling to compromise his character or betray his gentlemanly nature.  He understood that his work was not about expediency or deals at any cost: it was about people, real people with hopes and dreams and families and lives worthy of dignity and respect. Long before the Jesuits had ever distilled their notion of an engaged spirituality into the phrase cura personalis, Paul would prove that he had not only learned those lessons well — he lived them.

In return, Williams was well-regarded — and by players on both sides of the bargaining table, at that — for his calm, compassionate, and even-handed approach. He was never aloof, never condescending, and never dismissive: a real standout among negotiators. Meatpackers’ unions would bestow citations on him, as well as Midwest manufacturers, movie studio workers, and music industry personnel.

Despite the demands of his remarkable career, Williams never failed to make time for the institutions he supported. He served as a longtime member and president of both the Pleasantville Lions Club and St. Theresa’s Parish Council in Briarcliff Manor, and, along the way, he would also lend his energy to the VA Hospital in Montrose, NY. As expected, Fordham Prep was always high on Paul’s list. In addition to endowing and dedicating the Rev. Mallick Fitzpatrick, SJ Art Library and spearheading the effort to renovate the Leonard Theatre, Paul Williams considered it a great honor to serve on the Prep’s Board of Trustees, which he did with competence and grace from 1994 to 2006.

After his retirement, however, with more time to spare than he had had in half a century, Paul very much wanted to return to the school that had always meant so much to him.  No, no — not only as a benefactor — and no — not just as a trustee: in a more regular and more hands-on capacity.

“But Mr. Williams,” the Administration respectfully replied, “we don’t really have a position like that at the Prep — especially one befitting someone with your executive experience. You wouldn’t want to end up stuffing envelopes, would you?”

None of this mattered to Paul Williams, who arrived at Shea Hall as a retired alum in September of 2003 ready to work. And work he would! No position? No problem. He would just have to make one of his own. And so, the Office of the (More Than) Full-Time Volunteer Member-at-Large of the Fordham Prep Finance, Development, and Alumni Relations Departments was born — the offspring of true Maroon ingenuity and sheer decidedly-post-adolescent gumption.  As for the envelope-stuffing, Uncle Bob and Aunt Madge’s nephew was not put off in the least. All human endeavor, Paul had long known, no matter how humble, can ultimately be directed toward the greater glory of God and in service of His children.

For the next thirteen school years, Paul showed up every day with a spring in his step. In the words of Ms. Joan Wollman, former director of annual giving who worked side by side with Williams for over a decade, “He spent more hours at the Prep than I can begin to count. There was no task Paul wouldn’t take on; his kindness was infectious.” Yes, he did occasionally prepare the outgoing mail, but the responsibilities Paul freely took onto himself would come to impact nearly every aspect of Prep life — in ways, moreover, that few realize even to this day.

Paul Denis Williams passed away on June 27, 2020.  He left behind his wife, Phyllis; his daughters, Patreece and Pamela; their husbands, Patrick and Christopher; and five beloved grandchildren: Christopher John, Madison, Paul, Hunter and Paige.

Grandson Paul would carry on Pop-Pop’s Fordham legacy as a member of the Class of 2024.

All these years after the Quartet’s farewell performance, we can once again honestly say that thanks to Paul’s extraordinary efforts, for the Prep boys — even in the 21st century — the beat will indeed go on.

And for this, the Fordham Prep family will forever be grateful.