Paul S. Basile ’70

Our ever-adventuresome aeronautical engineer, Paul died Aug. 21, 2020, after a yearlong battle with MDS in Avignon, France. When we graduated, his aspiration was to design the Starship Enterprise or, failing that, the Mars lander.

In preparation, Paul came to us from Whitesboro, N.Y., and he hopped into the aerospace engineering department immediately. He married that with Air Force ROTC and stood out academically, as he did later in his grad work at MIT. Following his stint in the Air Force, with wife Gwen along for the thrill ride, by 1978 he was in Europe, eventually living in seven countries. The list of 12 companies in five industries, plus the many consulting gigs on which he graced his curiosity and creativity seems, like a subtle search to be present for First Contact, his stated goal — he felt he deserved it more than Spielberg. Always, he kept us uppermost in mind, working for the Princeton Schools Committee wherever he happened to be, sending his kids back to Princeton, and patiently explaining baseball in French.

Paul was predeceased by Gwen. He is survived by his ex-wife, Fionnuala O’Conor; his children Mark ’98, Marie ’01, Zachary, and Amandine; and seven grandchildren. With them we treasure the authoritative spirit who noted, “Some experiences certainly measure up to remembrances — among them spending four inspiring, challenging, and frequently humbling years at Princeton that changed nearly everything for me.”