Paul Lindsay

1930 - 2025

Paul Lindsay, 95, died peacefully on November 17, 2025, at Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Paul was born on October 4, 1930 to Brainerd and Pauline Lindsay. After growing up in Rahway, New Jersey, he attended Princeton University and then Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he earned his Bachelor of Divinity and later his Master of Divinity. In New York he met Caroline Hassinger. They married in 1954 and remained married for 62 years, until her death in 2017. Together they raised four children, Mari, Steve, Tim, and Susan.

After graduating from Union Seminary, Paul worked in churches in coal mining and railroad towns in Eastern Pennsylvania. He then moved to Oxford, Ohio where he became a campus minister at Miami University and at Western College. In 1973 he moved to Chapel Hill to pursue a doctorate in sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill. He completed his PhD, then joined the faculty at UNC-Greensboro, teaching sociology and doing research in the sociology of education. He retired in 1999 and moved to Carol Woods in 2016. At Carol Woods he met and married Ellen Beegel, and they remained together until his death.

Paul loved walking in nature, reading, playing tennis, and was active in supporting the social and political causes he felt strongly about, canvassing door to door before elections. He had a wise gentle spirit, compassionate and thoughtful, and often touched people with his humor and kindness. He was much loved and will be greatly missed by many.

Paul is survived by his wife, Ellen Beegel, his children Mari, Steve, Tim (Rick McHenry), and Susan (Randy Fulk), grandchildren Holly (Adam Miller), Nicholas (Lindsey Lindsay), Carter, and Willow and great grandchildren Adah and Maybelle. He was predeceased by his sister Constance Watkins and his grandson Harper.

A celebration of Paul's life will be held at Carol Woods Retirement Community on January 18, 2026, at 2:00. In lieu of flowers, Paul suggested donations could be sent to Orange County Justice United, PO Box 5484, Chapel Hill NC 27515, or to Hope Flowers School, Bethlehem, Palestine, c/o Humanitarian Social Innovations, 301 Broadway, Suite 115, Bethlehem PA 18015.