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October 23, 1948 – March 15, 2025
Paul Sylvan Greenfield died suddenly on March 15, 2025. At the time of his death, he was living in Boston, MA, with his wife, Sandy.
Paul started making his mark on Millburn as early as 1956, when he advised the readers of The Item of Millburn and Short Hills about the responsibilities of the members of our police force ~ which included “helping children and animals and people crossing the street.” A few years later he had several socially conscious letters-to-the-editor published in The Item. For example, in 1969 he defended a small store in town from some public criticism that the clothing sold there was for “weirdos.” Then, in 1973 he pointedly criticized the Town Board for trying to overdevelop the community at the expense of destroying some of its beauty. Paul also enhanced Millburn’s music scene with the Knights of Knote, a jazz band with three other members of our class: Paul on drums, Jack Luxemburg on tenor sax, Seth Kane on piano, and Steve Feldman on bass!
After graduating from MHS, Paul attended the University of Pennsylvania as a pre-med student. He was a member of Theta Rho fraternity. In 1969, he was one of three Newark area college students that spent their summer studying at Westfield College, University of London, in England.
Paul graduated from Penn cum laude and enrolled in George Washington University Medical School, Washington, DC, earning his medical degree in May 1974. He interned at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, New York City, NY, followed by an ophthalmological residency at the College of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, NJ. He received postgraduate fellowships in Boston at Tufts University and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary associated with Harvard University. In 1980, Paul was appointed by Tufts University as a clinical instructor of ophthalmology. He was a diplomate of The American Board of Ophthalmology.
In 2005, Paul opened a private practice with Dr. Raymond Liggio. He treated patients with cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, among other problems, and performed small incision and laser surgery. In 1997, Paul was named Chief of Ophthalmology at Beverly Hospital where he oversaw ophthalmology services at the hospital and at a nearby nursing and rehabilitation center. On WebMD, Paul said “My goal is to provide personalized and attentive care. I come from a long line of optometrists, including two grandfathers, my father, my uncle and two of my cousins.”
In 1985, Paul married Sandra C. Steele, a graduate of Boston University, the Boston University School of Law, and The International School of Law at The Hague. The couple lived in Boston, and in 1991, their son Laurence was born.
Paul sold his practice in September 2022 and celebrated his retirement with a three-week tour of Morocco. Since then, he continued to indulge his passion for travel with trips to Japan, France, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, and sixteen days in India just last October. Another highlight he’d enjoyed was a special eight-night adventure in Florence, Italy, touring museums and chapels with a small group led by an art historian.
Paul will be remembered fondly by family, classmates and colleagues for his intelligence, candor and dry wit as well as for his wide-ranging interests and genuine concern for family, friends and patients.
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JoAnn 'Jo' Weinberg (Pasternack)
I remember Paul as a really solid, thoughtful, and intelligent human being. The world is diminished by his death. May his memory always be a blessing.
John Hitchins
My heartfelt condolences to all of Paul's family and friends. Paul and I attended MJrHS and MHS as classmates. His academic excellence brought him successfully into the medical field and a career helping restore and improve the quality of life of his patients. He will be missed by all who were fortunate to know him. Peace, John
Cathie Ray (Barnes)
Paul was a classmate from the first day of kindergarten. Always bright , friendly and with a quiet dignity.Although our lives took very different paths as time elapsed, I am sure he will be greatly missed by his family. Decent people are hard to replace and a kind, decent man such as Paul is irreplaceable. Rest in peace Paul and congratulations for a life well lived.
Barbara 'Barbi' Melnikoff
I was friends with Paul since kindergarten time, in the Wyoming school district. His house had a backyard that abutted mine and there was an opening in hedges to walk through connecting our yards. Our parents were friends with each other, and in fact, when a small pebble flew into one of my eyes one day, my mother took me to his house where his father examined my affected eye in his home office and subsequently gave me a patch to wear for a few weeks, as he was an eye doctor. One day, when I was 4 - 6 yrs old, Paul came up the long flight of stairs to the backdoor of our kitchen. I let him in and we began playing in a small screened in porch next to the kitchen. He said "let's play Dr" and instructed me to take off my clothes. My mom found us like that, naked, and screamed at him and threw him out (clothes on). He did not return to that back door. My family moved to the S. Mountain disctrict when I started 2nd grade. In Jr. High we reconnected as we were in lots of the same classes; this continued in High School as I was in the same math and science classes with him. As classmates we were always friendly. We continued on similar paths as part of the 6 MHS students accepted to U of Penn in the early decision process. He was pre-med, I was not. However, I would see him often on campus and we always stopped and chatted for awhile through the years keeping our long friendship alive and well, telling me about his position on the crew team among other things. At MHS reunions, I always sought him out to have another follow up conversation, especially when I had decided to pursue premed courses following my new dream of becoming a physician. Just as I had trusted him when he wanted to "play dr" when we were about 5 yrs old, I continued to trust his knowledge and advice. When the MHS website arrived, I "followed" Paul and sent him birthday greetings. I had an interview scheduled for a medical position in Boston in the 1980's and contacted Paul to see if we could get together while I was there. He answered quickly and we hung out one evening at his fitness club where he ran around the track and I soaked in the hot jacousy. I remember that I became very dizzy when standing up to get out, called out to him and he ran over to me and told me what to do (being a dr, he knew it must have been low blood pressure). I was fine within minutes! It was great to spend some time together, talking about medicine, physical fitness, and other things, keeping our long friendship alive once more. He told me then that in addition to keeping fit jogging, he wouldl row on his boat down the river which passes through Boston. Some years ago I was sent to a Retina specialist as my ophthalmologist thought he saw something on my choroid layer of my eye. A diagnosis was given and I was told it needed follow up continuously. It was before "chatgpt" so I did a normal search and it was concerning to me. So, I asked Paul about it on the MHS website. He answered me and immediately and told me it was not anything to worry about. Having a friend like Paul was wonderfully calming. At the last big reunion dinner, Paul and I were sitting on the floor in the front row next to each other for the picture. For some reason, I told him that I still remembered that time he wanted to "Play Dr." with me on my little porch. (mind you, he did have a younger sister and I suspect they were running around or taking baths naked with each other, making such activiey quite "nl"). He said he remembered it as well and that my mother had screamed at him very badly and told him never to come near me again!!! So he didn't. It was somewhat remarkable that we both remembered that event for the rest of our lives, and we both went on to become Dr's. When I read his "In Memoriam" I missed him greatly immediately and for days I continued thinking about him. He was always there as a thread in the tapestry of my life from such a young age, a kind friend who smiled and laughed and made you glad you had taken the time to interact with him once again. I will always remember my lifelong friend Paul.