Paul Francis Youngformerly of Hanover, died Saturday, August 30, 2014, at Harvest Hill in Lebanon, NH. He was born July 7, 1921, in Orange, NJ, the youngest of four children of Frank and Ethel Young. Paul was raised in West Hartford, CT, attended The Loomis School and matriculated at Dartmouth College with the Class of 1943.

Upon graduation in December, 1942, he joined the US Navy and served as a communications officer on armed convoy duty in the North Atlantic during World War II. After the war while a graduate architectural student at MIT, he met Ruth Crocker of Brookline, MA, and they were married July 10, 1948. Their honeymoon was a drive across the country to California, camping along the way. Paul started his career at the University of California at Berkeley, working as an administrative assistant while pursuing graduate studies in educational administration.

Wanting to raise their young children in New England, Paul and Ruth returned to Hanover in 1951. Paul started work at Dartmouth College as Assistant to the Treasurer, staying for 20 years and leaving in 1971 as Treasurer. He then joined Dartmouth Savings Bank as its Treasurer, was named President in 1973 and retired in 1983. At DSB he was an advocate of technology innovation; under his leadership the bank installed the first ATMs in New Hampshire, pioneered the then unheard-of concept of grocery store debit card transactions in 1976, and shepherded through the Hanover zoning regulations a novel drive-up teller station.

Paul loved Hanover and during his six decades there contributed to many community organizations. He served on the Hanover Inn Board of Overseers, the Trustees of Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital (during the pivotal move to a new facility in Lebanon), the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Assembly of Overseers, the Hanover Improvement Society, the Hanover Conservation Council, the Hanover Finance Committee, the Hanover Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Vestry of St. Thomas and the board of the Hanover Co-op. He was a founder and director of Outreach House and the Eastman Community Association. In recognition of his selfless contributions, he was named Hanover Citizen of the Year in 1992.

While in the Navy, Paul learned to play bridge with a gambling flavor, keeping himself in pocket money at a tenth of a cent a point. He transitioned to duplicate bridge in civilian life: he played in, and directed, several area clubs, and met many new friends by inviting them to a bridge game. Paul also created and maintained friendships around the world by editing the Loomis-Chaffee "50+" alumni newsletter, by hosting annual Dartmouth '43 "mini-reunions," and by performing dozens of weddings as a Justice of the Peace.

In retirement Paul and Ruth indulged their lifelong love of New England's natural resources by spending summers at their cottage on Pine Island in Lake Winnipesaukee. Although nominally retired, he used his background in finance and real estate on several projects to protect the lake from over-development. On Sundays he attended the Union Church on Meredith Neck where he soon found himself the treasurer of their board and a leader of their fund-raising projects. His last visit to Pine Island was on his 92nd birthday, closing a history of eighty-four years on the lake stretching back to his time as an eight-year-old at Camp Idlewild.

Paul was known as a quiet and caring person, always looking out for friends and family and how he could help in their lives. He lived his life with a smile, a twinkle in his eyes, and a very dry sense of humor, with a special appreciation for bad puns. Paul is survived and missed by his loving wife and bridge partner of 66 years, Ruth, and their four children: Sally (and Bruce) Manning of Northborough, MA, Larry (and Toni LaMonica), Arthur (and Jeanne) all of Hanover and Charles (and Eileen Kane) of Nashua, NH. He will also be missed by his seven grandchildren and four great-grandsons.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday September 20th, at 11am at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 9 West Wheelock Street, Hanover, NH. Rand-Wilson Funeral Home of Hanover is in charge of arrangements, and contributions in his memory may be made to the Outreach House, 11 South Park Street, Hanover, NH 03755.