Paul A. Walker

Paul Anthony Walker, MD passed away peacefully and with dignity on August 4th, 2024 at his home in Nyack, NY.
Paul was born on May 8th, 1949 to Rebecca (Peg) Walker (nee Holland) and Stanley Walker in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, who ran the Little White Hart Hotel on Thameside. Paul's parents later acquired the Crooked Billet Hotel in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, where Paul attended Langley Grammar School.
Paul attended Bristol College graduating with a BS in Geology and Geography after which he indulged in his love of travel and adventure by joining friends in a voyage across Europe, the Middle East and Asia – terminating in Singapore – all in a British ex-army ambulance they repainted and named "Gunga Din". From Singapore, Paul continued on to Australia where he lived for a few years supporting himself with odd jobs: surveyors assistant, kitchen staff at a uranium mine, digging ditches, making sandwiches in a deli, etc
While in Australia, Paul determined that he wanted to become a physician – so back to the UK he went where he attended a local college near Seaford in Sussex (where his parents now lived) in order to take all the prerequisite courses and apply to medical school. In order to support himself during this period Paul again worked many odd jobs: sorting nails in a nail factory, assistant to an insurance agent, rental car clerk at Heathrow, wallpaper hanger, bartender and teacher's aide at a preschool. No job was too small if it furthered his ambition to attend medical school.
Paul attended medical school at the University of Birmingham. While in Medical School, Paul married Nancy Russell, who was among his fellow travelers in Gunga Din. In 1981, their first son was born, Christopher Handsworth Russell-Walker, who attended Paul's graduation from Medical School two weeks after his birth. Paul and his young family then moved to Boston where Paul was a resident at Beth Israel Hospital from 1983 to 1988 after which he was granted Board Certification for the practice of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. A second son, Alexander Chillingworth Russell-Walker was born in 1986. Paul then joined the pathology practice at Nyack Hospital in 1988, with Howard Goldstein MD as his mentor, director of the department and dear friend.
In 1995, Paul and Nancy separated after Paul made the difficult and socially risky decision to declare his homosexuality. Paul made a life with his partner Jay Snyder and moved to Irvington, NY in 1996. Paul became the Director of Pathology at Nyack Hospital in 2000 upon the retirement of Howard Goldstein and was named Physician of the Year in 2011. In 2012, he left Nyack Hospital and joined the pathology staff at HOAG Hospital in Newport Beach California, then retired in 2015 and moved back to New York – eventually settling in Nyack.
Paul will be remembered by his family and friends for his English wit and dry humor, his love for home restoration projects, his wanderlust and joy in experiencing new places and different cultures, his love of cycling and, most importantly, the devotion he had to his family and community. Paul will be remembered by his colleagues as a consummate professional, as a caring and capable manager and as the charming English gentleman that indeed he was.
Paul is survived by his husband, Jay Snyder (Nyack, NY), his son Chris and his wife Mallory (Boston, MA), his son Alex and his partner Marina Ross (Brooklyn, NY), his step-daughter Allie (Oneonta, NY), his sister Paulette (Worthing UK), his brother Alan (Eastbourne UK) and his wonderful niece (Debbie) and grandnieces (Ellen and Catherine) in the UK.
On behalf of the family, we would like to thank Montefiore Nyack Hospital, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, Helen Hayes Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian and United Hospice for the wonderful care Paul received over the course of his 5 year battle with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.
Should anyone care to make a contribution in remembrance, Paul was a life-long supporter of Doctors without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org) and Amnesty International (amnesty.org)
A celebration of Paul's life will be planned for the Fall of 2024.