Born: January 3, 1941
Died: February 21, 2021
Paul Joseph Bschorr, 80, a longtime resident of Rye, NY and most recently of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL and Scotch Plains, NJ, died peacefully on February 21, 2021 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Paul was born in The Bronx, NY on January 3, 1941, the only child of Joseph and Helen (née Sheerin) Bschorr. He grew up in Sandusky, OH, but Paul loved the beach and as a child spent his summers with family in Point Lookout, NY. He attended St. Mary’s High School in Sandusky and graduated as the class salutatorian in 1958.
Paul was a Political Science major at Yale. He was a resident of Timothy Dwight College and served as a Sophomore Counselor. A member of St. Elmo, he was very active with extra-curricular affiliations: he was in the Political Union serving as Treasurer in 1960. He was a member of the Outing Club and a devoted member of Young Republicans 1960-1962. He roomed with Ken Cascone, Al Ogden and Charles Stringham.
During his college summers, he worked in the accounting department at Cedar Point, a seasonal amusement park known for its roller coasters. He then went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania Law School on a full scholarship, graduating cum laude in 1965.
In our 40th Reunion Book in 2002 Paul recounted how he met Anne Leventritt who became his wife and companion for 52 years.
“I was fortunate one night in 1967 to join Bill Noble at a party at his apartment in New York and there met the most amazing, delightful and beautiful young woman, Anne Leventritt.”
They married April 12, 1969, and began their 52 years of marriage living in Manhattan before moving to the Westchester suburb of Rye, NY in 1971, where they remained for over 40 years and raised their three daughters. Paul was active in the Rye community. He served on the Rye Presbyterian Nursery School board and headed the boards of The Rye Library and the Rye Tax Assessment and Review. Paul was also a member of the board of trustees of The Apawamis Club, serving as club president from 1999 to 2001.
Paul practiced law in New York City for 48 years, first joining the law firm White & Case on Wall Street in 1965. Paul thrived as a lawyer. He was elevated to partner in 1972, at the time the youngest in the firm’s history. He led the firm’s litigation practice throughout much of the 1980s and was a member of the firm’s management committee during a period of rapid international expansion. He later practiced with Dewey Ballantine and Reed Smith. Paul enjoyed immersing himself in his clients’ businesses and solving their problems. As a litigator, he successfully tried several consequential cases, including the first jury verdict against big tobacco on behalf of an insurance payor, Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield. His other high-profile clients included Chubb Insurance, Swiss Bank Corporation, Senator John Kerry, Teresa Heinz, and Ivana Trump in her contentious divorce proceedings (against the wishes of then White & Case partner Rudolph Giuliani). Paul was deeply involved in the American Bar Association; he and Anne traveled extensively and developed numerous enduring friendships through the ABA. He chaired the Litigation Section of the ABA from 1990 to 1991 and became a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Paul finished his long and distinguished career with The Gregory P. Joseph Law Offices before retiring in 2013.
Paul was a devout Roman Catholic and his faith was shaped by the death of his beloved father Joseph when he was 16. Paul and Anne were members of the Church of the Resurrection in Rye for nearly 50 years. Paul’s Catholic faith and his law practice regularly intersected, including advocating against capital punishment. He was a lifelong, passionate fan of the New York Yankees and an avid reader of biographies and historical fiction. His hobbies included building model boats and an apprenticeship with a wooden boat builder in St. Augustine, FL.
Paul is survived by his wife Anne; his children Sharon Mayer (Chris) of New Providence, NJ, Molly Ferguson (Jethro) of Westfield, NJ, and Kate Pignata (John) of Summit, NJ; and his eight grandchildren: Lily and Josh Mayer, Kaelin, Garrett, Brody, and Cullen Ferguson, and Annie and Joey Pignata.
A funeral mass was celebrated on February 25, 2021, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. He was buried in a private ceremony at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that contributions be made in Paul’s memory to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
Robert G. Oliver