Paul Loranger

Paul Loranger was born in New Bedford on December 18, 1940 to Constance (Letendre) Loranger and Theodore Loranger. He lived on Phillips Avenue and enjoyed his early years in this neighborhood. He was a member of St. Anthony of Padua parish.

Paul was a graduate of Coyle High School and loved his early educational experiences. He worked on many construction projects in New Bedford and was proud to be a mason. He served in the Air Force from October 1963 to July 1967. He was a Vietnam War Veteran and was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay during the Vietnam War. Afterwards, he returned to New Bedford, attended the Southeastern Massachusetts University – now the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth– and then Paul moved to Chicago where he attended Loyola University, majored in two fields that fascinated him– psychology and sociology–and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Paul Loranger moved to Newton, MA in 1972 and this became his life-long beloved home. He had worked for Goodmeasure, Inc. in Cambridge, then became Vice President of B & B Manufacturing Company, Inc. a New Bedford family-owned business. He was an important factor in the success of this 64-year old New Bedford company.

Paul had an amazing love for plants and flowers and turned his Newton yard into an award-wining English garden. He had a rare talent for gardening and developed an even greater love and commitment to beauty.

Paul was a most intellectual person, with a fascination for knowledge. Daily, he read The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and also read The New York Review of Books, The London Review of Books, The Nation, Harper’s, The Atlantic, The Columbia Review, Foreign Affairs, and these were only some of his literary subscriptions. He had a consuming drive to know and to understand the world. Thinking challenged him and he never tired of new and exciting viewpoints and philosophies.

Paul was unique in his intellectual explorations, a singular presence alive with new ideas and voracious in his appetite for learning.

Paul Loranger also had a deep passionate love for music, especially Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin. His Victorian house, which he artistically transformed into a magnificent showpiece of a Painted Lady, was filled with classical music that gave him constant joy, delight and inspiration. He could not and did not live without the daily enjoyment of his favorite musicians, of which Glenn Gould and Murray Perahia were two of his favorites.

He leaves three brothers, Bernard Loranger, Robert Loranger and Theodore Loranger, and sisters-in-law Christine, Cynthia and Stephanie Loranger, with many nieces and nephews. He also leaves his long-term partner Iraida Servillo and his former wife and beloved friend Marcene Marcoux.

Visiting hours will be held at ROCK FUNERAL HOME, 1285 Ashley Boulevard, New Bedford on Friday June 9, 2017 from 7PM to 9PM. Flowers that reflect a natural garden look are welcomed. His Funeral Mass, concelebrated by his long-time friend Fr. Aquinas Keane, Trappist monk from St. Joseph’s Abbey, will be held Saturday at 9AM at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford. The Military Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery, New Bedford. For online tributes and registration: www.rock-funeralhome.com