Paul C. FORD

FORD, Paul C. Paul C. Ford of Atlanta passed away peacefully on Wednesday March 7, 2018. He was surrounded by family and friends. Paul, 67, was an attorney whose practice focused on international, corporate and family-based immigration matters. Paul helped countless people achieve legal status through the work he loved. He spoke Japanese, French, Spanish, and possibly many more. Paul was born in Framingham, Massachusetts to Martin Ford and Ruth Van Ness Ford. He met his wife and partner of 47 years, Dr. Wendy Newstetter, at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. After college, Paul and Wendy worked and traveled for a year in Europe and North Africa. They briefly lived in a cave in Crete before moving to Tokyo, Japan for two years where Paul worked as an actor/model and a "renowned" potter in addition to his day job translating album lyrics by Barry White and others into English. In 1975, the couple moved to Atlanta, where Mr. Ford studied law at Emory University School of Law. He was an editor of the Emory University Law Review. After graduation, the couple stayed to make a home and build a family, first in Grant Park and then in Buckhead, for the next 35 years. Prior to founding his own law firm, Paul earned partnerships and an excellent reputation in the Atlanta legal community at prestigious law firms, including Lee, Lynch, & Ford; Cofer, Beauchamp, Stradley & Hicks, LLP; and Smith, Gambrell & Russell. In addition to his wife Wendy, he is survived by his daughters Jessie and Olivia, and his sister Elaine Ford Shwert of Los Angeles. Paul loved summers in Cape Cod, thrifting with his daughters, weekends at his lake house in Blue Ridge, dancing to disco, and traveling the world with his family. He was an optimist. He was a charmer and a storyteller. He was irrepressibly generous with his time and his attention and his warm, singular spirit. He would never take no for an answer. Paul loved life and he lived it to its fullest every day with music, adventure, and irresistible humor. He climbed every moment. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2018 from 4-7pm, at Trees Atlanta, 225 Chester Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30316.