Sheldon "Paul" Colvin

1924 - 2015

Paul Colvin

On October 31, 2015, Sheldon Paul Colvin - always known as "Paul" by his friends - passed away peacefully of natural causes in San Francisco. He would have been 91 years old in December.

Paul was born in Flint, Michigan on December 15, 1924. His family moved to California when he was young, where he resided for the rest of his life. During World War II Paul served in the U.S. Navy and afterwards joined the Merchant Marines. In the early 1940s, while he was still a Merchant Marine, Paul met a member of the Socialist Workers Party who convinced him of the virtues of socialism and invited him to join the party. Six years later Paul joined. When asked why the decision to join took so long, Paul explained that he wanted to think about it.

During the McCarthy witch-hunt period, the U.S. government expelled Paul from the Merchant Marines. Paul, like so many others, became victimized by anti-communist hysteria.

Afterwards, Paul attended UCLA and then moved to the Bay Area and eventually graduated from U.C. Berkeley. He held many jobs, including driving a taxi. But the position he held longest was for the San Francisco Chronicle where for over 30 years he was a master proofreader, often catching errors other proofreaders would miss.

As a member of the Bay Area Typographical Union Local 21 (which later merged into the Pacific Media Workers Guild), Paul played a leading role when the Chronicle employees went out on strike in 1994.

Paul's first marriage was to Joan Jordan. They had been together for several years and finally decided to marry. Paul explained that marriage was the problem, and a divorce soon followed. His second marriage to Marjorie Beilke in 1961 lasted until her death in 2006. Paul is survived by his three children, daughters Valerie Reza-James (husband Darrell James) Sherri Elinson (husband Douglas Elinson), and son Laurent Colvin, his grandson Antonio Reza, granddaughter Rhiannon Colvin-Scott, and his siblings, Elaine Cotton, Nelson Colvin and Eli Colvin.

Throughout his life Paul remained a dedicated and active socialist. He could always be seen at events such as anti-war or other demonstrations in support of workers struggling for a higher wage and better working conditions. Paul was always prepared to do the drudgery to make these events successful, such as enduring the bureaucratic process of obtaining demonstration permits and serving as a monitor on marches.

His dedication to socialism stemmed from his conviction that society could be much better run by ordinary people - the working class - who would create policies that were in the interest of the majority, rather than the present capitalist system where the rich succeed in holding a monopoly on power and rule in their own minority interests.

There will be a celebration of Paul's life on December 19th, to be held at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, in the Fireside Room, at 1:00 PM, with a short reception to follow. The address is 1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94109.