Obituary of Paul B McMahon

Paul McMahon, 88, of Belfast, passed away on Friday, August 5, 2017 at the Sussman House in Rockport. He was surrounded by his family, with the doors of his room open wide to the sound of songbirds and the smell of the ocean. Paul was born in Geneva, New York and was one of three children. He was always drawn to boats and, at the age of 16, became an able-bodied seaman so he could work on the ore boats on the Great Lakes. He then went to John Caroll University before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1946. After serving for two years he attended Cornell University, graduating in 1954. He married his college sweetheart Barbara “Bunny” McMahon the day after they graduated from Cornell. They then drove across the country to work at a hotel in Glacier National Park, before returning to upstate New York, where they started their family and Paul began a career in college food service. Paul’s work took him all over the country. He and Bunny raised their five children in upstate New York, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Virginia and finally New England. Paul was an open-hearted and open-minded man. His passions were his family, sailing, and music. He was always generous with his time and gave his children free, happy and uncluttered childhoods, always with a good measure of silliness. He spent every weekend he could, and eventually months at a time, at sea on a succession of sailboats, exploring and gunk-holing along the Atlantic Coast from Maine and Atlantic Canada to the Chesapeake and the Bahamas. When stepping on a boat, he never failed to exclaim, “It’s great to be at sea again!” His mother, Ann McMahon, was a banjo player and passed on her love of music to Paul. He especially loved classical music, jazz and folk, and even the rock and roll of the 1970s. This earned him the reputation of “coolest dad” among his children’s friends. He would often accompany his fiddling children and grandchildren on his harmonica at Christmastime. Paul leaves behind his beloved wife Bunny, three sons – Barney, Greg and Scott, and a daughter, Janet. He lost his daughter Judy several years ago. He also leaves ten grandchildren, Peter, Sarah, Anna, Josie, Matthew, Maya, Emma, Sophie, Julia and Olivia and his sister, Peg Tiefenbach. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Island Institute or the Sussman House.