Born May 23, 1934
Ellsworth, Maine
Died Aug. 2, 2023
Colchester, Vermont
Details of services
A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 9 at Williston Federated Church.
If you knew Paul Jordan, you probably called him Coach.
That’s how his neighbors on Brewer Parkway addressed him on his daily walk around the street. Those who arrived in the more recent past may not know about how he arrived in 1969 to teach at South Burlington High and turned around a football program coming off a 1-7 season, the ninth in a row without a winning record.
That changed under Coach Jordan. His teams didn’t simply win, but won with class, with jerseys tucked in, chinstraps buckled and socks pulled high. They were disciplined, unselfish and well-conditioned.
The team went 4-4 that first season, including a victory over a St. Johnsbury team that thumped South Burlington 65-0 the previous fall. Home games started drawing large crowds, galvanizing the town and leading the nine-year-old school to live up to its ambitious motto: Building A Proud Tradition.
South Burlington didn’t lose a game in 1970 or 1971, earning the first of what would be five Vermont state championships. The Rebels also won titles in 1974, 1979 and 1982.
Before coming to Vermont, Jordan had led Onteora High (Boiceville, NY) to a five-year record of 28-11, which included an unbeaten 1964 squad. After retiring in 1990 from South Burlington (where his teams went 117-41-1), he coached the offensive line at Middlebury College for four satisfying years that included a NESCAC title.
At South Burlington, he also coached softball for 15 years and, though his teams lost more often, he always felt — and he wrote this in an obituary he drafted a decade ago (did we mention his proclivity for being prepared?) — that he learned a lot from the girls and appreciated their effort and attitude.
He was asked recently about highlights from his coaching career and named two. First, he never cut a player. If you were willing to try, he would find a spot for you, either as a player or a team manager.
Second, perhaps the most satisfying moment of the five state title victories came in 1974. In the waning minutes against Fair Haven, his fourth-string offense, nicknamed The Green Dragons, marched steadily downfield, not scoring but churning out first downs, each player leaving the huddle crisply, lining up properly and executing the play. Every member of every team Paul Jordan coached understood they were valued and had something to contribute. “Everybody,” he said, “is to be respected.”
He also went by other names: Mr. Jordan, Gord, Toothpick, Bubby, Uncle Paul, Grampy, Pipi, Dad. He read voraciously. He tended flowers. He wrote poetry. He cultivated a deep spiritual side, and met with a meditation group Friday mornings and Christ Church Presbyterian friends Sunday afternoons.
The obituary he compiled is neither flowery nor exhaustive. It does the job. Born in 1934 to Ray and Evelyn (Kittredge) Jordan in Ellsworth, Maine. Attended Bar Harbor and Bangor schools. Graduated from Bar Harbor High in 1952, fourth in his class. Won 12 varsity letters, in basketball, baseball and football.
Four years of baseball and two of football at Springfield College (his playing career cut short due to abdominal surgery prior to his junior year. Fun fact: Surgeons removed his belly button!). Earned a bachelor’s degree in 1956 and master’s in 1960. In between, served as a U.S. Naval Reserve officer, first on the USS Hopewell (DD-681) and then at the Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia, where he played third base and was Officer in Charge of the Norfolk Tars baseball team, a career highlight.
On Oct. 4, 1958 he married the former Barbara Jacobs (Springfield Class of ‘57) in her hometown of Fair Lawn, N.J. Their union produced three sons (Gregg, Glenn and Garry). Divorced in 1983, Gord and Jake re-married in 1993 and became the grateful grandparents of eight.
Paul began his working career at Onteora in 1960 as a physical educator and head coach of baseball, junior varsity basketball and football line coach. He soon became Athletic Director but eventually focused exclusively on football, a path that in 1969 led him to Vermont.
Kayaking, cross-country skiing and nurturing relationships with each of his eight grandchildren kept him busy in retirement. He maintained fitness with daily morning workouts up until a month before his death.
Congestive heart failure slowed him, and cancer piled on. He entered hospice July 29 and, after bidding farewell to close family members and friends, took his last breath August 2. He was 89.
He is survived by his sons, Gregg and wife Nyarkoa of South Burlington; Glenn and wife Nancy of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and Garry and wife Karen of Waxhaw, North Carolina. Also, his grandchildren Zaiah of South Burlington; Lily, Jacob and Nat of Maine; and Kelsey, Alyson, Sydney and Ryan of North Carolina. Also, his sister Joan Jordan Grant and partner Kathryn Booth of Seal Cove, Maine; his sister-in-law Joan Jordan of Mystic, Connecticut; nephew Ben Grant and wife Cate of Portland, Maine; nephew John Jordan of Mystic and niece Julie Jordan of Virginia.
To quote his draft obituary: “He deeply loved every member of his family and reveled in their achievements, and just being in their presence. In particular, he was very proud of Barbara’s status as a world class Masters Track & Field Hall of Fame athlete. He also was deeply appreciative of every boy or girl who played for him on the many teams he coached, from Little League to college, and all the individuals who coached for him. Meeting one of them about town or communicating in some way made his day. He sincerely cared about them all.”
Upon his retirement from South Burlington High School, a colleague who also grew up in Maine, Jeanette Andrew, crafted a poem in his honor. She knew native Mainers to be “wary of praise” and exhibiting “a certain sobriety of the emotions” and wrote of Paul:
Something in the spine, in the eyes –
Yes, and in the hand that took yours
and said goodbye. He meant every
word he said and what he
didn’t say, you could hear
it anyway.
The family expresses deep appreciation to the staff and volunteers at UVM Medical Center and McClure Miller Respite House who provided comfort and care in his final days.
In lieu of flowers, donations are welcomed to the Paul and Barbara Jordan Scholarship Fund, care of South Burlington High School, 550 Dorset Street, South Burlington VT 05403.
