Rev. Dr. Paul D. Schoonmaker

Rev. Dr. Paul D. Schoonmaker, 88, of Warwick, passed away on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at Kent Hospital in Warwick. He was the beloved husband of 66 years to Joan E. (Phillips) Schoonmaker.
Born in Melrose, MA, he was a son of the late Theodore and Marion (Jepson) Schoonmaker.
He was a resident of Warwick, RI since 1984, and served as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in South Providence from 1984 until his retirement. He was a graduate of North High School, Worcester, and graduated first in his class from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he served in the US Army Signal Corps, originally stationed at Fort Ritchie, MD as a 1st Lieutenant at the Site R underground Pentagon. He was called to Christian ministry prior to his military service so, after completing his military obligation, he obtained his divinity degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. During this time he was also an employee of General Electric's Re-Entry Systems Division and worked on technology to use Earth's magnetic field to assist with guidance in orbit.
Rev. Schoonmaker's first pastorate was Jewett City Baptist Church in Jewett City, CT, where he served until 1967. Subsequently, he became the pastor of the Royersford Baptist Church, in Royersford, PA. During that tenure, he developed a prison ministry for the maximum security prison in Graterford, PA. In 1975, he received a Doctor of Divinity degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary. His dissertation was later expanded into his first book, The Prison Connection, published in 1978. In 1983, he was part of a delegation of Baptist leaders who visited the Soviet Union near the end of Cold War.
Rev. Schoonmaker next served Calvary Baptist Church, which also included responsibility for South Providence Neighborhood Ministries (SPNM), an outreach to a part of Providence that was experiencing great changes and challenges. The church was of particular assistance to the Hmong people who fled there after the Viet Nam War. He also led the church in raising funds to renovate the historic building on Broad St. During that time, he was a member of the Ministers Alliance of Rhode Island, and helped found Baptist Peacemakers of Rhode Island. At the end of his full-time ministry, he was Minister of Church Life for the American Baptist Churches of RI, and served as interim pastor at the First Baptist Church in America in Providence.
Rev. Schoonmaker enjoyed technology and building projects. In the 1970s he and his sons assembled a hybrid electric car by removing the engine from a Mazda 626 and installing a military surplus motor-generator with two banks of batteries and an 18-hp tractor engine for running the generator. He and his sons built a summer cottage in Sneads Ferry, NC in the late 70s and early 80s. Camping and outdoor activities with his family included driving throughout the U.S., visiting 47 states, Canada, and Mexico. Those adventures and the pictures he took generated material for many of his sermons.
Rev. Schoonmaker lived as an example and worked tirelessly to teach the need for effectively maintaining our relationships with each other and restoring our relationship with our Creator by receiving Christ into our hearts. Perhaps most importantly, he was devoted to his wife throughout their 66-year marriage and was demonstrably proud of his five children and the fourteen grandchildren that he and his wife spoiled at every possible opportunity.
Besides his wife, he is survived by his children, Peter M. Schoonmaker of Woonsocket, David P. Schoonmaker and his wife Vilma of Warwick, Stephen J. Schoonmaker and his wife Sharon of Chambersburg, PA, James T. Schoonmaker and his wife Karen of Arlington, MA and Elizabeth J. Almquist and her husband Rev. Dr. Christopher of Lewiston, ME; two sisters, Barbara Woodford of Laurel, MD and Janet Simmon of Laconia, NH; 14 grandchildren, Christopher Schoonmaker, Katelyn Turnbull, Helen Schoonmaker, Sara Schoonmaker, Christina Schoonmaker, Michael Schoonmaker, Dr. Jennifer Schoonmaker, Melissa Schmeck, Laura Schoonmaker, Anne Schoonmaker, Emily Schoonmaker, Kyle Almquist, Jason Almquist and Scott Almquist and three great-grandchildren, Micah and Luke Schoonmaker and Kieran Read.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Carpenter-Jenks Funeral Home, 659 East Greenwich Avenue, West Warwick, RI. A Memorial Service will held on Sunday, June 4, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. in the First Baptist Church in America, 75 North Main Street, Providence, RI. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Paul's name to Calvary Baptist Church or the Retired Missionaries and Ministers Offering c/o American Baptist Churches USA would be appreciated.